Child's Game
by KyraX
Summary: Ichigo and Rukia have a child together, an act that is forbidden in Soul Society. So their child is left with two kids who barely even know how to take care of themselves. How long can they play a parent's game? Hitsugaya X OC IchiRuki
1. Chapter 1

_A new fanfiction to squeeze in my already packed schedule. I've decided to take a break from the drama and let loose. This one's not going to be as drama-packed as my last story. I practically tortured people with that one. No. This one is going to be relaxing, humorous, fluffy, and basically chill. There will be a little drama though._

_Naori's back in this one! I just love her as my main OC, especially breaking her into pieces. How will she fall apart in this story. Sorry for making Rukia and Ichigo a little bit OOC. Well, with maturing age, personalities can change._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own Bleach. It belongs to Tite Kubo. I only own Naori Hibana. If I did own Bleach, I would stop creating so many new characters._

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

Rukia rested on top of her and Ichigo's king sized bed, head neatly propped up against a nearby pillow and her dress cascading amongst the rippling sheets. Over the past years, she had grown up into a young, petite woman. She grew slightly taller, but her frame was still considerably small. Her dark raven hair was growing out, even when Rukia was trimming it daily, yet it gave off an illusion of her grace. One that she still needed to develop, as noted by the many people who really knew her.

She was currently residing in the World of the Living. Separate from the Kuchiki manor in Soul Society. Though she didn't really mind because it was already home here. Rukia's fingers pressed against the buttons of her phone, her eyes scanning for any of the slightest changes in spiritual pressure. Her violet orbs narrowed when a mop of orange blocked her view.

"Ah! Ichigo!" Rukia yelped and tried to push the man out of her sight. Her efforts were futile.

The man merely chuckled at her efforts, letting the woman have her fun before capturing her lips. He could feel her breathing give out on her and her struggling going limp from his mere touch. He pressed harder against her lips, taking a sniff of that familiar sweet scent of hers. Damn, she smelled really nice today.

Rukia momentarily kissed him back before realizing she had something important to do and promptly shoving him off. "Ichigo! I have things to do!" She loudly yelled at him.

Ichigo rubbed his back that hit the bedpost. "Is that any way to greet a surprise kiss from your husband?"

"This concerns our daughter! You know how worried I get over her." Rukia retorted back before facing her phone again.

By the way, she was married.

Over these years, sometime in her life with Ichigo, Rukia had realized how much she had fallen in love with him. It came to her unexpectedly, no warnings at all. She had only found out after he came near close to death protecting her. She never felt so worried for a guy like him until then. At that moment, her locked in feelings spewed out like a fountain and shot at her without any notice. It had taken her by surprise and she was glad.

Afterwards, they had stabilized the fact that they were dating and in love. After a couple of years being together, plus a lot of moments where Ichigo had to escape Byakuya's pink flower petals of wrath and that one special moment where Ichigo was forced on his knees, they were finally married as husband and wife. It was a quiet and simple wedding in the human world with only a few close friends attending. It was nothing like the huge wedding gatherings like Rukia had described back in Soul Society. After the wedding and their honeymoon to England, they settled down in Karakura Town in a well-built two-story house and began their lives as a married couple.

It was not long until a forbidden fruit was born…

"Masaki is fine. She's sleeping right now." Ichigo pointed out, noting the small lump in the center of a crib.

Rukia hurriedly got up and scurried to the edge of the crib, checking if her daughter was all right and if Masaki's immense spiritual pressure was still in check. It must have been a side affect of a shinigami and a human giving birth. Masaki Kurosaki was her beautiful little daughter who was born only a few months ago. That small child already had a grown tuft of Ichigo's noticeably orange hair and his amber eyes were reflected off of her own. This baby really looked exactly like her deceased grandmother. At first, Rukia was disappointed that her daughter looked nothing like her and everything like Ichigo, but she warmed up to the fact that Masaki liked her mother taking care of her. She would always remember those times that Masaki cried every time Ichigo tried to even hold her.

But Masaki was still a special child. When she was born, full kido barriers had to be put up surrounding the hospital so to not disrupt any levels of spiritual energy. She was said to be born in a huge flash of light and the room she was born in had its temperature drop down below zero. This young baby was literally a living bomb of spiritual energy ready to explode. Luckily, Rukia was a master of kido so she knew how to conceal Masaki from Soul Society's radars.

The reason?

Masaki was forbidden, a taboo that would result in dire consequences. The union between a shinigami and a human was forbidden. It resulted in anything from exile to executions. It was dangerous yet Ichigo and Rukia took the bait. Though, they have been living pretty peacefully these days, quietly raising their human daughter.

A small smile grew on Rukia's lips as she reached down to lift up the blanket's covers closer to her daughter. "Masaki…" She quietly mumbled, as she rubbed the small, sleeping baby.

Ichigo could only smile at his wife's maternal instincts. Rukia acting like a mother always had this calming effect on him.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, the husband and wife could hear a slight whimper escape from her daughter and watched as it escalated to shrieks and cries. Thus, all hell broke loose.

"Moron! You scared her!" Rukia yelled, holding her crying daughter against her body in futile attempts to calm the young child down.

"I was just standing there! How could she cry so easily over that?"

"She cries whenever your mere presence is even in a two meter vicinity! It's not my fault she hates you!"

"My own daughter does not hate me!"

"Not after the name you gave her! This is the last time I'm letting you name our children."

"What's so bad about her name? It's the same name as my mother and it sounds fine."

"She probably hates it because it rhymes with her last name. Masaki Kurosaki. Such a mouthful! Our daughter is picky, remember that!" Rukia shouted out last, lightly bouncing her daughter up and down to calm her.

"She does not hate me…" Ichigo mumbled, shoving his hands into his pocket. He and Rukia had managed to create this angel of a daughter that hated his guts. All those times he supported Rukia throughout her pregnancy and his frequent nighttime dashes to buy pickles, resulted in this. He still loved his daughter…it was just that Masaki wasn't used to him yet…

Rukia scoffed at her husband's moping and got ready to put her daughter back into the crib. She was tired for today and she really could use some much-needed sleep.

"Rukia." The serious voice of her husband drove her sleepy eyes away from drooping. This awkward tone of voice meant that he was not kidding around and he was being very serious. This moment was not a laughing matter.

"Hello Rukia Kurosaki." A man greeted her by the door.

"Kisuke Urahara…why are you here?" Both Rukia and Ichigo asked.

"Well…some good news and some bad news." The man in the hat smiled as he walked in and made himself comfortable on the couch.

Ichigo and Rukia shared a look at each other before glancing at their sleeping daughter once more. They slowly dimmed the lights of Masaki's room and silently closed the door, careful to not wake up the five-month old baby. Ichigo sat down closest to Urahara, followed by Rukia right beside him.

"What's the good news?" Ichigo asked.

Urahara dipped his hat lower, avoiding any eye contact. "Soul Society hasn't found out about your baby."

"And the bad news?" Rukia quickly asked afterwards, cutting to the chase.

"They found _a_ strong spiritual pressure. Right here in this area. It is someone that is neither you nor Ichigo Kurosaki. It won't take long for them to deduce that it is Masaki's spiritual pressure that's being detected in their radars."

"Damn it!" Rukia muttered to herself. "I've checked on the barrier every single day! There's no way Soul Society could have detected Masaki!"

"Rukia Kurosaki. You could have taken your eyes off of Masaki for a minute to go fight some hollows or something. An infant this powerful would be able to leak a great deal of spiritual pressure through a barrier that's not being manually maintained." Urahara explained.

"It doesn't matter." Ichigo said, slamming a fist on the coffee table. "They've found us and it won't be long before they find Masaki."

"Can't we just leave her with a friend or maybe leave the area?" Rukia desperately suggested.

Urahara merely shook his head. "Soul Society's had their eyes on you two for some time. They've been expecting something like this seeing that Rukia is a shinigami and Ichigo is a human. They will be watching you guys all the time now that they've found their little evidence."

"Can we leave her with you? You can provide some protection?" Ichigo suggested as well.

"Only for a little while…" Urahara sighed. "I would come under suspicion too since I'm so associated with you two."

"Damn! Damn it!" Ichigo growled.

Rukia cupped her hands into her face, trying to hide the tears that were ready to flow out like a waterfall. "It's no use Ichigo…" She said, tears already flowing out. "There's no other choice. It's not safe here for Masaki."

"Well there is _one_ solution." Urahara quipped, grabbing the couple's attention in a heartbeat. "We can put your daughter in Soul Society, Rukongai to be safe, where there are millions of spiritual pressure particles. Soul Society won't be able to notice a thing if she's hidden among the massive amounts of spiritual pressure. Of course, you two are going to have to stay here to play decoy."

"I'm _not_ leaving my daughter all alone in Rukongai!" Rukia cried.

"She could be killed!" Ichigo retorted as well.

"Well, if that's the case, I suggest you guys come up with a better plan. You leave Masaki in Rukongai for some time until Soul Society is sure that you did not commit treason. Then, you can go pick up your daughter and continue on with your merry lives. Or, you can just think about it here and have Soul Society hunt her out and kill her. What do you choose?"

"I choose neither! There has to be a better way!" Ichigo started to yell, raising his voice.

"Fine…" Rukia quietly said.

"Rukia!"

"If it means saving our daughter, I'll do it." Rukia definitely said, wiping away the tears that formed in her eyes.

"Rukia!" Ichigo said again, grabbing onto her arm. "You're risking your daughter's life."

"I'd rather take this chance than have her be killed now!" Rukia cried back, her arms now trembling. "I don't want her to die."

"I have a 'yes'. I only need one more." Urahara remarked, glancing at Ichigo.

"Fine!" He grumbled. "If Masaki will truly be safe, I'll do it."

"Okay then!" Urahara excitedly said, snapping together his open fan. "Here's the game plan! I'll take Masaki with me to my place to hide her for the time being. You guys can search around Rukongai for any acceptable parents to take care of your kid. I recommend Junrinan of West Rukongai. A beautiful and safe place. One of the best! Plus, I know it pretty well so I can get you in really easily for any visits."

"How can we find someone we can trust there?" Ichigo wearily asked.

"I'm sure you'll find somebody."

_OoOoO_

Rukia sighed in sadness yet again. Another hopeful set of guardians was washed away like a sand castle. She has already gone through name after name after name and she could still not find a suitable guardian for Masaki. While she was taking her job as a mother seriously, Ichigo was having his fun getting reacquainted with the citizens of Junrinan. This type of husband disgusted the young mother easily. Rukia was not impressed.

"Stupid!" Rukia yelled, slamming a good fist on his head. At times like these, she seriously wondered why she married and had a child with him.

"I'm testing to see if this place is okay for Masaki." he retorted. "You think I want to leave our baby daughter in a crime infested place?"

"This is District One...one of the safest in all of Rukongai. Unfortunately, this is the best that we can get." Rukia murmured before promptly shoving Ichigo along with her. "Now go find somebody or I will-"

"Excuse me dear, can I get by you? I need to buy some fruits and vegetables." A senile lady warmly asked.

"Uh...sure!" Rukia hesitated for a second, but she quickly made room for the old lady to make her purchases.

The grandmother smiled, "Why thank you Miss! I want to buy some beans to make some amanatto. Lately, my little grandson has been complaining about his workload and he could use some of my homemade snacks."

Ichigo curiously turned towards the old lady. She was short, barely even Rukia's height, but she looked like a nicer woman compared to his wife. It must be the age. "You have a grandson?"

The old grandmother nodded, "Yes. I raised him and another little girl ever since they were children. So polite! The both of them! I think they should be working as shinigami now. They must miss me a lot."

Ichigo glanced at Rukia, who nodded back at him in agreement. This old grandmother in front of them, maybe she was the answer that the both of them were looking for. She was warm and kindly, perfect for their little daughter to be brought up in. She also looked quite innocent so Soul Society may not suspect her of treason. She was perfect.

"Um Miss?" Rukia steadily asked, approaching the little grandmother. "My husband and I are in a bad situation and we need someone to look after our daughter until we solve this problem. Her name is Masaki Kurosaki and she is a five-month old baby. Can you please take care of her?"

"Me?"

"Please, we beg of you!" Both husband and wife said in unison, respectfully bowing down to the senior.

"Well then…" The grandmother said with a blush forming at her cheeks. "I've only taken care of my grandson when he was a little child. I've never handled infants before…but I'll do my best."

"Really!" Rukia's face lit up and she clasped onto the hands of the grandmother. "Oh thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Really. Thank you for your help. We are in debt to you." Ichigo said with a smile.

"Oh dear…I'm blushing at your words." The grandmother chuckled. "Just remember to come back for your daughter when you've solved out your troubles. If you truly love her, she'll smile when you come back."

Rukia nodded. "Yes."

The grandmother smiled, but her wrinkly eyes flickered towards the window that had the evening sun pouring in through the panes. "Oh my…it's getting late. I should really start cooking my snacks." The grandmother said in a hurry, turning towards the door to leave.

The Kurosaki couple waved back at her. Rukia was sporting a huge grin on her pure face while Ichigo managed to crack a smile. It was one of those rare moments that he ever smiled. This moment that happened a few seconds ago, this moment was a miracle. They desperately needed someone to take care of Masaki and she shows up out of the blue. That was a miracle. The miracle they needed to get by on this stage.

Rukia sighed and grabbed onto the crook of Ichigo's arm, laying her head softly onto his muscled bicep. "Hey moron…do you think this was a good choice?"

"Yeah midget…" He agreed wholeheartedly. "I've seen old people like her at the clinic. They're really one of the nicest people on this earth."

Rukia's violet blue eyes dropped below his gaze as he said those words. She felt relieved, of course, but she was still a bit weary and worried for her little daughter. "Is that so…?" Rukia could only mumble. She was only letting Masaki out of her grasp for now. But one day, she'll come back, arms wide open, ready to accept her cute, smiling daughter once again. She'll hold onto her tight and never let her go.

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><p><em>Meh. Okay…it's not my best way to start off a story. I don't think this is particularly good. But review if you could!<em>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Masaki cooed and giggled, her small hands reaching up towards the toy that this old grandmother waved in front of her. Her small mouth was drooling of a clear, sticky substance. She definitely wanted to take a nice bite out of that little toy and like any other things left in this house. She became well accustomed to it in a matter of days. She probably spent a week there, but it already felt like home to the little baby.

The old grandmother continued to smile as she played along with this little baby. She was glad she took this infant in. She was so adorable! Suddenly, she felt one of her white strands of hair move away from her face. She could see that Masaki's short hair of orange stood up at its ends when a cold wind of air swept by her. A high-pitched ring rung out of the bells she put on the front door. Someone must have come in! This cold and icy pressure was very familiar.

"Ah Toushirou…it's so nice of you to visit." The grandmother smiled at her grandson. He had grown up a little, she noticed, probably thirteen years now. But his height didn't change at all. She wouldn't point this out. She would probably tell him to sleep more.

"Hello Granny." Hitsugaya replied, grinning his rare unknown-to-the-rest-of-the-world smile.

"Ah! And you came in at the right time too! I just finished making this batch. I know how you love your amanatto fresh and ready!" Hitsugaya's grandmother gushed, pulling out a jar filled with the sweet confectionaries.

"Granny!" Hitsugaya shouted back, embarrassed. "I'm not a little kid anymore!"

"Come on… You know you want one." His grandma taunted him, waving the tempting jar of sweets right in front of his face.

His face struggled to keep the apathetic frown that was neatly placed on his lips and he quickly turned away from the temptation. But that soon disappeared after he made a snipe for the jar of sweet sugared beans. Damn…his grandma always knew all of his weaknesses. He'll have to do something about that…after he indulged in these rare grandma homemade sweets! The young, white-haired captain was about to pop a piece of candy into his mouth when he spotted the young infant girl.

"Granny, did you take in another child?" Hitsugaya asked, watching Masaki as she crawled towards him and pulled onto his captain haori.

"Sort-of…"

"Are you babysitting her for somebody?"

"Yes."

"I see…" Hitsugaya mumbled, lifting up the young orange-haired infant girl. She didn't seem scared, in fact, she seemed quite happy that it was him that was holding her up. She cooed and giggled even more, reaching out for his white hair and his shiny star brooch that held up his zanpakuto. Hitsugaya placed her back down and let her play around near his lap. He just continued to stare at the infant's noticeable orange hair. It reminded him of a certain somebody. "Granny. I can sense a familiar spiritual pressure from this infant. What's her name?"

The old grandma sighed and closed her eyes. "Masaki. That's her name. Masaki Kurosaki."

"Kurosaki?" Hitsugaya's eyes became alert. "You don't mean, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

"I'm not sure if I've met that man. Toushirou?"

"He's big, about this tall." Hitsugaya explained. He felt foolish having to get on his toes to reach up to the height that Ichigo reached. Yeah, he was still that short. "He's a substitute shinigami, rude attitude, can't address me as 'Captain Hitsugaya', and has orange hair. He looks like a complete fool."

"Ah! I think that's him." The grandma exclaimed, suddenly remembering the event that happened a week ago. "That Kurosaki man and his lovely, little wife approached me and asked if I could take care of their child. Of course I couldn't say no, so I told them I'd take her in! She's been a wonderful, little baby so far!"

"So this infant here is their child then? I don't know if a spawn of Kurosaki is any good…" Hitsugaya felt a tug on his sword cloth and he glanced down, seeing that the baby was now tugging away on his star ornament. He had the notion of picking her up again and putting her aside, but his grandmother said something that turned his attention away.

"It's quite dreadful. Her parents got caught up in such a bad situation that they had no choice but to leave their little daughter here."

Hitsugaya simply nodded. He knew about the taboo about falling in love with a human and having a child together. It was forbidden and doing so resulted in dire punishments. He, himself, had almost got caught in this prohibited act after a human had fallen in love with him unexpectedly. But that was another story. Hitsugaya glanced back at Masaki, who was still cheerfully sitting on his lap. He was amazed on how long the couple had kept their relationship and this baby a secret from Soul Society This baby should have been leaking out enormous amounts of spiritual pressure that the radars could easily pick up. It was strange.

But now, he could feel a large amount of spiritual pressure tucked into that tiny body. It must be one of the side effects of having a child. This could become dangerous soon. He could tell. He was in the same situation before…

The captain announced, "Granny. I'm afraid I'm going to take her away from you."

"Oh…why is that?"

"She's going to become dangerous soon. Kurosaki's daughter…she's like me."

"And how so?"

"She could end up hurting you by accident. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to put you in danger again."

"Now, don't act so much like a grown-up." His grandmother scolded. "You know that I can take care of a young infant at my age."

"I'm sorry." Hitsugaya said, picking up Masaki into his arms. "I'm going to have to report this child in. It's already a treason that she was born into this world."

"No Toushirou!" His grandmother pleaded. "You don't know how much it hurt her parents to entrust her to me. Now, you want to hurt them even further? This could just kill them."

"I'm sorry…but rules are rules."

"Then, I might as well turn myself in."

"Granny! Don't be ridiculous! That's the last thing I want you to do!" Hitsugaya scolded at his aging grandmother. Seeing his dear, old relative locked up in a jail cell was the last thing he wanted to see.

His grandma frowned at his rebellious nature. "I'm already involved in this fiasco. It should be fair. Besides…I've already made I promise to her parents that I'd keep her safe."

Hitsugaya stared at his grandma for a long time before running his hand through his spiky hair. She'd got him there. This uncomfortable position, she got him there. He knew he had to follow regulations and turn this baby in, yet at the same time, he wanted to take save his grandmother from any sort of trouble. But he was always a sucker for granny.

"Fine Granny…I'm not going to turn her in." Hitsugaya finalized, watching his grandma's lips curl up. "But I'm going to have to take her out of your care."

"Toushirou?"

"This infant leaks out a lot of spiritual pressure. It's too much for you to handle. Besides…she's like me. I was once in the same position as this kid. She won't fit in right." He explained. He remembered those horrible times after Hinamori, his only friend, left. It was miserable. Everybody was afraid of him. Nobody wanted to be near him. It was lonely.

"You think she's going to grow up unable to control her power and shunned by everyone?"

Hitsugaya nodded. "Who knows how long you're going to keep her. She might as well live here forever if Ichigo and Rukia don't figure something out. So…I'm going to take her with me and hide her in Seireitei. I'll find somebody to take care of her."

"Toushirou…" His grandmother frowned. "Do you think this is right?"

He nodded in response. "Yeah. There would be even more spiritual pressure to cover hers up. Plus, she'll be protected by hollows and she won't harm you accidentally."

His grandmother gave a sigh and just sat there, thinking about it for a while. It was moments later where she lifted up her head and spoke. "Alright then…I think it's better that way as well. I'll let you take the child. I'm going to have to tell that couple about this. Are you sure you know somebody who can take care of her?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then." His grandmother finalized, clapping her hands together. "You should get back to work and bring Masaki along! I'll pack up some more amanatto for Momo and that cute, little girl you always keep in your office."

_OoOoO_

A young shinigami girl happily flipped through the pages of today's magazine. She would flip some pages forward and some pages back, but she would always end up on the same pages as she begun. Her bright, golden eyes lit up in happiness and she moved her head side to side, quickly reading the printed words. Her dark blue hair swung around as well, her tube clips on the ends of her side bangs were hitting her flushed cheeks. She was comfortably sitting on the couch in the office with her black uniform messily sprawled out at her legs. The reason for her excitement? It was those certain pages of the magazine she was reading.

"I'm back." A grumble erupted from behind her.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" The young shinigami girl exclaimed and shoved the magazine right into his face. "You see this, Captain Hitsugaya? I told you my article _Lightening Wonders_ would get into _Seireitei Communication_! Half your salary! Hand it over!"

"Fifth. Seat. Naori. Hibana." Hitsugaya grumbled her title, enunciating each word, and shoved the magazine back into her face.

Naori shot a confused look at him. But she merely shrugged it off and sat back down on the couch. "Why so grumpy? Did the visit go bad?" She asked, flipping through the pages in boredom.

"Hardly." He replied, popping up the lid to the candy jar. He was more than ready to devour these grandma's homemade sweets.

Naori sauntered over to his desk, retrieving a sweet bean treat and quickly sunk her teeth in. "Your grandmother always makes the best! Where's my jar?" She asked, eating that edible sweet made in heaven.

"At Matsumoto's. My payback for not winning."

"Why are you such a sore loser?" She taunted, giving a mischievous grin.

"You probably bribed Lieutenant Hisagi using Matsumoto." Hitsugaya grumbled. "Crybaby."

Naori winced at the nickname. She groaned afterwards and tried to retort something back at him. But she read his face and noticed that it was filled with worry. That was not a good sign. Her attitude softened up a bit and she pushed back the temptation to call him by his embarrassing nickname. "Hey Captain? Why did you call me over? I was in the middle of leading an important mission."

"Yeah, you were killing little hollows." He sarcastically retorted. "I need specifically you on this next mission. Only you have the abilities to complete this next one."

Naori gulped. This was serious. "What is my next mission sir?"

He nodded off at a certain direction behind Naori. "You'll know once you see it over there."

"Yes sir." Naori quickly said and flash stepped over to the room behind her. She pulled open the door and analyzed the room inside. It was dark with the only light being the one shining through the door. Though, as she was scanning the room, she spotted a weird contraption and in it held…

"A baby? Whmm thu fa? Mhhhm mmhm nommm mm mmmhm oh mmhmmm?" (What the fuck? Did you knock up a girl or something?) Naori literally screamed so loud that her captain had to clamp his hand over her mouth.

"Keep it down. This is a secret." He lectured her in a hushed voice.

"Who is that baby? And what is she doing here?" She asked, mimicking the same hushed voice in a taunting manner.

"That baby is Masaki Kurosaki. Name ring a bell?"

Naori's eyes flew wide open at the name. She recognized that last name. That was the name of the substitute shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki. She didn't know much about him other than the fact that he was dating Rukia, a seemingly quiet secret that miraculously never reached the ears of Central 46. "Wow…so they did go all the way. But isn't it forbidden?"

"Yeah. But my grandma got caught up in the act so I had to save her from going up against Soul Society. Hence, I took in the kid." Hitsugaya explained and shot Naori a look. "And you're taking care of her."

Silence.

"What! How am I even qualified for this? I'm just a kid! How can a kid take care of another kid?" Naori exclaimed, slamming both her hands on his desk and messing up his paperwork unfortunately.

"You're hardly a 'kid'. You're over a hundred years old." He pointed out. "Besides, you were previously from the Fourth Division. I'm sure they had some sort of training for handling children."

"Yeah, handling childbirth. Not raising children." She shot back.

"Well, you're going to have to start learning. Bring Masaki back to your place and you'll stay there to take care of the baby. I'll relieve you of any shinigami work and still give you your regular salary. When this is all over, I'll give you an extended vacation. How does that sound to you?"

"I mean…that's perfectly fine…" Naori started to say, but quickly pointed back to the baby carriage. "But I'm not good with kids."

"You can handle Lieutenant Yachiru. She's just an even tinier version." Hitsugaya blandly stated and walked over to the carriage. He carefully carried the small baby back into his office and plopped her right into Naori's arms.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Naori yelped. Once she had the baby placed into her arms. She was already fumbling around with the blankets and the small body held inside of it. She could swear that one of her hands was slipping on the bundle. This would result in dropping the baby and that would be bad…

But she managed to properly hold the bundle safely in her arms with the baby snuggling right in. Naori was able to take one good look at the baby, noticing the bright orange hair and fat hands before the baby opened its brown eyes. Masaki took one look at Naori and whimpered. She cried.

"Naori! Idiot! How'd you make her cry?" Hitsugaya yelled at his subordinate, plugging his ears to block the crying noises.

"I don't know! She just did!" Naori frantically replied while she was still holding the crying baby. She tried rocking it back and forth, but this made Masaki cry even louder.

"Stop doing that! You're freaking her out!" Hitsugaya frantically ordered. "Keep her quiet or else we're going to get caught!"

"I'm trying, Captain! I'm trying!"

"Try harder!"

"How about you hold her?" Naori shouted at him and dropped Masaki right into Hitsugaya's arms. Miraculously, the young baby stopped crying and was now snuggling peacefully in Hitsugaya's arms. On the other hand, Naori just stared dumbfounded at the little baby and her carrier. "Now you see why I'm bad with kids…" She managed to fumble out.

"I can see that." Hitsugaya mumbled and placed the baby to rest on a pillow in the couch. He still glared at Naori, "But you're still taking care of her."

"Captain Hitsugaya! You saw what happened!" Naori exclaimed, pointing right back at Masaki.

"I don't care. I'm a captain so my hands are full." Hitsugaya retorted back. "It's an order. Just put up a bunch of kido barriers and make your barrack soundproof or something. Find some way to keep Masaki quiet while you're taking care of her. Understand?"

Naori growled at him from under her breath. "Fine!" She spat at him, picked up Masaki, and flash stepped all the way back to her private barracks.

Hitsugaya merely scoffed at her anger and returned to his paperwork. He knew that she'd find some way to make things work. Naori Hibana could think of something creative along the way.

On the other hand, Naori knew that this was not going to work out. She was horrible with kids, especially babies. This was a fact that she identified herself. How unfortunate!

That extended vacation better be long. And have hot springs included! Can't ever forget the hot springs!

* * *

><p><em>Second chapter done! Vacation is coming up soon. I'm so glad about my initial reviews for my first chapter. I didn't even think I'll get that much reviews and views. Thanks! Please review this one!<em>


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Wah! Wah! Waaahhhhhh!" The piercing sounds of a baby's wail blared throughout her entire room. It shook her vases, it shook her lamp, and it shook her plants, and cracked a mirror here and there. It also broke a dish.

The young babysitter was nowhere to be found in this room, until now… Naori growled, rushing into the room with a towel wrapping her wet hair. Short electrical charges sparked through the strands of her wet hair, slightly frizzing the blue mop. But she didn't care. It was the baby! That little demon! Just what did she do that was so bad? Why did Masaki hate her so much?

"Be quiet Masaki-chan." Naori dully said, rocking the little makeshift bed she had made out of a huge basket balanced on top of two books. Yeah…she had to get creative for the brat and she hated being creative. Being creative was the same as being fashionable. She didn't abhor being fashionable, she just thought it was unnecessary and too much of a hassle. Thus, she didn't care.

The baby continued to cry and cry. This had been going on for about two days now. Once Naori brought Masaki back to her home, she let the baby sleep until the late afternoon of the next day. Then, Masaki woke up, took one look at the fake smile placed on Naori's face, and started to cry. She did fall asleep from her crying, but every time she woke up, she'd started crying all over again. How aggravating!

She was a horrible babysitter. And when she grew up, she was going to be a horrible parent.

"Don't cry Masaki-chan…" Naori choked out, her lips attempting to form a crooked smile. In her head, _'Oh for god's sakes! Shut up!'_

Masaki didn't listen. She continued to wail, tear, and cry.

'_What if I accidentally severed her voice box?'_ Naori maliciously thought, her hands glowing green all on its own. _'Rukia and Ichigo will slaughter me…'_ That turned her hands back to normal.

Naori let out a huge sigh and she just sat there, watching the baby cry and cry until the baby finally fell asleep again from the crying. After a while, Naori figured that the baby was crying because she was hungry. But what do five-month year old babies eat? Are they breastfed? Naori looked down onto her chest. Well that's out of the question. Maybe she'll buy some milk and put it in a bottle like she saw in cartoons.

That was a bad idea. A very bad idea.

Once she had tried feeding Masaki the milk, the orange haired baby spat it right out and continued up her crying rampage. Naori winced a lot when the high-pitched shrieks reached her ears. If she went through this even more, she'll be deaf! Deciding to cease this needless crying, Naori turned to the next best thing that came up in her mind. Go to the human world in disguise and search the Internet! Naori was about to rush to the Senkaimon area, but she luckily stopped herself to think. Is a trip to the World of the Living going to take too long? By then, Masaki would be starving…

"Ahh!" Naori loudly screamed, mussing up her flattened dark blue hair and collapsing onto the bedding she made beside Masaki's cradle thing. "What should I do? What should I do?" She loudly moaned to herself, rolling back and forth in fetal position.

She was going crazy!

In the end, Naori decided to do the next logical thing that came up in her mind. Ask an adult. The closest adult was Matsumoto…maybe that would work?

She was dead wrong.

Matsumoto went on for hours and hours talking about how cute babies were. Basically, in her words… "Ah! I love babies! They're so cute! I want to just hug them and squeeze them and pinch their little cheeks! If I ever see one, I'm taking it home with me! And I'm going to love it forever and ever and ever and ever! Ah! It would be like Captain Hitsugaya getting a new playmate!"

"Bankai…"

Naori was a very lucky one at that time. Maybe because he knew that she had a baby to take care of. But that didn't stop him from chilling her to the bone. Naori had managed to make it out of there with a small frostbite. Let's just say that there's a permanent ice sculpture in the office now.

Naori finally bought the baby formula like Matsumoto had described and she flash stepped home to check up on Masaki. She creaked open her sliding door and slipped in, careful to not make a sound to wake up the baby. She couldn't stand through yet another crying session. She didn't even dare turn on the lights! Thus, she had to make the formula in the complete darkness and pray that it came out right. She prayed that Masaki would accept this botched up formula and happily drink it and maybe perhaps, shut up. She prayed that this mission would end a little faster. She prayed that this would be the last time she ever played mother.

"Masaki-chan. Are you hungry?" Naori asked the awakened baby. Masaki was being eerily quiet while drinking her formula milk. She actually liked it a lot if her cute little coos were a sign. But one look at Naori sent the baby into a wailing spree again.

"Wah! Wah! Wah!" Masaki screamed and wailed in her crying fit.

"Bakudo…" Naori was about to chant, but she held herself back. No. That wouldn't work. It would just make her cry more. She resorted to pleading and begging instead. "Aw please! Stop crying! You've been doing it for three days now! Stop! Please! I'll bring you back to Ichigo and Rukia. I'll give you lots of candy! I'll even let you mess around with Captain Hitsugaya! Just stop crying!"

Eventually, Masaki stopped her crying and fell into a deep sleep. Naori mindlessly rocked Masaki's cradle. This would put Masaki to sleep very quickly, as she had found out on the second day. Every time Masaki slept, it was pure heaven for Naori. She could finally get some time to herself. She didn't have to listen to that awful crying. She was in pure bliss all those times.

Then, Masaki would wake up and Naori would be thrown back into hell.

Like now…

Masaki spontaneously woke up and began crying all over again. Naori groaned loudly out of irritation and rocked the little bed even harder. That proved to be no help at all. She was a horrible parent.

"Maybe you just need a walk?" Naori growled at the whimpering child. She quickly dressed up Masaki into a very warm bundle of blankets. She merely threw a thin haori of gray over her dull blue sleeping kimono. It was not that cold anyways.

The walk of the night was actually Naori flash stepping here and there with Masaki in her arms. Sometimes she would stroll along the streets of Seireitei. Other times, she was flying through the air. Masaki was a bit calmer than usual. She didn't cry and she didn't shriek. This baby must be scared. She only made small whimpers and she was trying to push herself away from Naori's grasp. Naori merely just held onto the baby even tighter. She was not going to let this brat go! Letting her go meant the loss of her vacation time, her job, and her life!

Yet, on a strange note, once Naori was making rounds around the Tenth Division, Masaki strangely ceased all her whimpering. It was when Naori was standing right in front of a door as she was strolling through the larger barracks. She noticed this because Masaki would stop whimpering at the door and start whimpering when she passed it. Naori went forward, Masaki started to cry. Naori walked backwards, Masaki stopped. Naori walked backwards further, Masaki started. Naori went forwards, Masaki stopped.

"Strange…what's so special about this room?" Naori loudly wondered, placing her hand on the screen of the sliding door. Well, this place was the only thing that stopped Masaki from crying and Naori was already making plans on moving in there. This place was finally freedom from that crying hell!

She opened the door.

She saw a sleeping Hitsugaya.

She closed the door.

Well…there goes that plan… Naori turned away. It was not everyday that she saw her captain in his actual living quarters. They were not that close unlike Matsumoto and her daily intrusions to hide sake in his room. Naori went forwards, Masaki began whimpering. Naori went backwards, Masaki stopped.

There was no choice. It was the only option. She was afraid now. She already escaped a Bankai coming from her own captain. Can she escape this one?

Naori slid open the door with a now sleeping Masaki wrapped up into her arms. Carefully, Naori tiptoed around her sleeping captain and out of the door into a hallway only to face Hitsugaya's complex of a captain's quarter. Man! Does a captain have benefits! He had like six rooms in his entire barrack! She must have snuck in through the back door, which led to his bedroom. She could see a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, a training hall, and a little empty room probably for meditating. She only had two rooms…a center room and a bathroom. But now was not the time to marvel at his rooming arrangements. Naori placed Masaki into the meditation room and quietly left the baby sleeping there.

The easy part was done…now for the hard part, bringing this up to her captain…that's going to be difficult.

"What should I say?" Naori mumbled to herself as she paced up and down his living room. "Hey Captain Hitsugaya! How's it going? Can the baby stay here with you?" That sounded wrong. "Captain Hitsugaya. I ran into problems with the baby. It seems that the only solution is to room her in with you." That sounded even more wrong. There was no perfect way. _'I guess I'll just have to say it loud and clear.'_ Naori sighed at her predicament. She readied her zanpakuto at her side just in case. She was not entering a discussion for an agreement. She was entering a battle.

Naori silently tiptoed back into the bedroom of Hitsugaya's and kneeled down beside his futon bed. The young shinigami reached out and tried to shake her captain awake. "Captain Hitsugaya. Captain Hitsugaya. Wake up sir!" She whispered with every shake.

He didn't respond at all. In fact, he rolled over to his side and continued to ignore Naori's shaking as if treating her like an annoying bug. A pulsating vein sprang up in Naori's forehead and a growl escaped her mouth. She was not in the mood of playing games.

"Hitsu-kun! Wake up!"

"My name is Captain Hitsugaya Toushirou! Not Hitsu-kun! You stupid Crybaby!" Hitsugaya retorted at her once he heard the nickname escape from her mouth. He literally jumped out of bed once that nickname escaped from Naori's lips. The usual lines he was shouting looked like they were almost out of instinct. It was funny… for a moment.

"Shh! Shut up or you'll wake her!" Naori exclaimed in a whisper and clamped her hand over his mouth to get him to quiet down. Unfortunately, her daring move made her knee get caught up in her sleeping kimono and she simply tripped. Before she knew it, she was laying right on top of him and looking straight at him eye to eye. Their chests were uncomfortably touching and their faces were only inches away from each other.

"Ommm gmonna mankmai moh aff." (I'm gonna Bankai your ass.) Hitsugaya grumbled, staring icy daggers right back into Naori's golden orbs.

"Sorry…" Naori sheepishly mumbled and quickly got up. That…was embarrassing.

Hitsugaya finally got himself adjusted away from that uncomfortable position and he sat up on his bed, facing Naori. "First of all," He started, "What are you doing in my quarters?"

"Ah…well…you see…" Naori started off and she made a brief explanation of how she got here. Hitsugaya simply nodded at each of her statements, maybe his way of acknowledging the truth. But that soon went away with the next words that came out of her mouth. "So can Masaki stay here?"

"What…"

"I know it may be rude. But it's the only solution."

"No."

"But-"

"I told you to fix this problem on your own! It's your mission that I assigned you. Don't drag me into your failures. Now stop whining and crying about it and bring Masaki back into your home." He strictly ordered.

"Don't even talk to me about crying." Naori dangerously warned with her sudden discharges of electricity making the lights flicker. "For the past three days, I've been listening to that baby cry over and over again. She completely hates me! If I hear her cry one more time, I'm going to go insane!"

"That's your problem, not mine." He strictly replied.

"But it's not fair! It's your fault this baby got here in the first place!" Naori complained.

"Well then, do you know a fair way to settle this?"

"Uh…" Naori had to think a bit for this one. She raised a fist, "Rock-paper-scissors?"

Hitsugaya merely stared dumbfounded at the girl. Maybe her time with Masaki really drove her insane. "Excuse me…you're going to use that little child's game to decide this dilemma."

"That or we argue till dawn!" Naori proclaimed and she raised her fist back up again, ready to make her first move.

Hitsugaya just sighed. He hated doing this. He hated children's game. It was so immature even for Naori's age. Heck, she's older than him! But he'll agree just for now since it seemed like a quick solver for this problem they were having. And thus, he raised his fist as well.

"Rock-paper-scissors!"

Naori had rock and Hitsugaya had paper.

"I win."

Naori froze. Her mouth dropped wide open. Her clenched fist stayed in its exact position. She felt her knees clench slightly in her kneeling position, which would have keeled her over in a second. She was too frozen to even fall. Hitsugaya merely ignored her shocked reaction and he got up to go retrieve Masaki.

"Wait. Do over."

"I won fair and square." Hitsugaya argued. "Now, you bring the baby back to your barracks this instance."

"Wait!" Naori pleaded. She was already near begging now.

"No." Hitsugaya plainly rejected. He tried to take a step forward…but he couldn't. The bottom of his robe tightened as if there was someone tugging on it. It was a soft tug with no sharp jerks or forceful pulls. It was something that was meant to keep him there and never let him go. The young captain turned around to see Naori was tugging on the hem of his sleeping kimono. He couldn't see her face clearly, but he could see some wet spots on his mattress. Great…she was crying. He knelt down before her after the tug. She had her face hidden, but he could clearly spot the twinkle of tears emitting from her golden eyes.

He felt his heart tighten a bit after getting a good look at her crying face. Sure, he saw her crying a couple of times, but that was because he walked into other people making her cry. He would then proceed to severely injure them for making her cry. But this was on of those few times where he actually made her cry.

He was stuck.

"I-I don't want to be left alone." A soft voice came out of her.

'_I better not regret this.'_

"Fine…" The captain mumbled, turning his red face away. "You can stay…"

Naori's face lit up with her tears vanishing. "Really?" She asked, with her hands clenching on the fabric of his sleeve.

"Yes, the baby can stay in my quarters." He snapped at her, trying to release her grip. "Only on one condition though."

"What is it? I'll do anything to make Masaki stay here."

He smirked, "You'll continue to take care of this baby. In here."

Her face froze up again. "What." She dully responded. "What? Did you say?"

"You'll still take care of Kurosaki's daughter. It's just a change in location." He remarked. "Did you really expect I'll take care of this kid after you leave it with me?"

'_Well…yeah…'_ She admitted in her head. There goes that plan. She still had trouble in her hands. But she, a Fifth seat subordinate, sleeping in the same vicinity as her captain at around the same age. That doesn't sound right at all! Napping in his office was already a stretch!

"Are you crazy?" She exclaimed. "This is wrong! You and I aren't even close to dating!"

"You said you wanted the baby in here." He said with a shrug. "She's still your responsibility. So you're going to have to attend to her every need, even if it's in my own barracks. I, obviously, do not intend on taking care of her."

"Wait! How are we going to even room here? I mean, if anyone sees me in your barracks, rumors and stuff like that are going to be spreading around." She said, panicking.

"Just don't get caught. If you're an idiot and get caught, just say that I sent you to retrieve something from my barracks." He explained.

"What about sleeping arrangements?"

He just shrugged. "I have an empty room. That can be the baby's room."

Naori stared at him, tilting her head to the side in question, "So…where am I going to sleep?"

That was a good question. He shrugged, "I don't know. Sleep with the baby."

"If I do that…" She pointed out. "You'll never get a good night of sleep. Ever."

"What else can I do?" He groaned, "I can have you sleep in my room."

"Eh!" Naori was about to shriek, but quickly muffled her sound with her hands. She could feel her hands sweat a bit and her cheeks blushing red once again. He was crazy! A captain and his subordinate sleeping in the same room! Only a foot away from each other! Their breaths of air being blown as they slept! It was wrong! Totally wrong! "No! That can't happen!" She exclaimed back.

"Oh. Okay then." He coolly replied, subtly ignoring her shocked reaction. Maybe what he said was worded a bit wrong, but he always had a kick of manipulating the usual mischief-ridden Naori. The same girl, who was always finding ways to get out of work and conning money out of his pockets, was cowering right in front of him. That was fun. He simply replied back, "I'll take my bedroom back and you'll sleep in the living room. There should be an extra mattress somewhere."

"Oh…okay." Naori quietly said, hiding her embarrassed face. She glanced up back at her captain, "But wait! I still don't think I should be rooming here…with you…"

Time to pull out his final weapon. "I'll double your salary." He stated, watching Naori's face turned from worry into opportunistic glee.

"Oh, so you're going to take it that far to keep me in here?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'm not taking care of the baby." He finalized with a nod and glanced outside. "It's really late. And I'm tired. I don't feel like moving all the furniture in my living room. How about you take the mattress and sleep in the baby's room?"

She scoffed at the idea. "No. I've had enough of that baby. For once, I just want a peaceful night of sleep." Naori boldly stated and she quickly headed for the back door.

"Wait! Nao-"

"I'll see you in the morning." And with that, she flash stepped away from his quarters.

Hitsugaya clenched his fist and groaned. In his head, he could already think of the amount of paperwork he was going to punish her with. But putting that aside, he glanced back at the room Masaki was left in. He hoped that she wouldn't wake up crying. Aside from dealing with Naori's tears, he wasn't really well accustomed to crying children. He wondered how Naori was able to make Masaki cry so quickly. She must have been bad with children like she said. Maybe she wasn't the right choice for this after all…

He heard a shuffle of the blankets and was greeted with a pair of brown eyes staring at him. Masaki tilted her head at the visitor, smiled, and started making weird babbling noises. She was reaching out for Hitsugaya. But he could see it clearly; a thin, blue thread was clamped in the fist of the little baby. He could recognize this dull shade of blue; only Naori wore such a boring color. She always had a very bland sense of fashion, mostly because she was that lazy. Now, it must have been getting so bad that her own sleeping kimono was falling apart on her and she doesn't have the care to replace it. Though Masaki didn't mind this thread as she was playing around with it.

He smirked.

Nah. Naori's going to do just fine…

* * *

><p><em>Ah another chapter done! I have successfully put my OC through hell and back. Again. I love torturing her. On the other hand, my reviews were good. Thanks so much. Of course, the website likes to act weirdly on me for some reason. I have such bad luck on this site. But I still love it! Thanks for your reviews and continue to review!<em>


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Hey Captain Hitsugaya!" Naori said, peeking out of the edges of the _manual_. "I think I've found the solution to our problem."

"Not now. I have to finish this stack and Matsumoto's paperwork." He grumbled, dunking his brush into the ink jar.

Naori shrugged and glanced back into her book. She assumed that it was a manual on raising a baby because of the title and a couple of sentences. She actually didn't know. She just grabbed it straight off the shelf. This gem was borrowed out of Matsumoto's quarters. The shinigami girl chewed on another piece of the bean candy as she read in peace. She sat cross legged on the office sofas, something that Hitsugaya would scold her for, but he was too tired to even care. He was probably dealing with the baby. Maybe that was taking it a bit too far for leaving him with the baby. Alone.

But then, she had to deal with Masaki crying for three days straight…

"Naori… Do you think it's safe to leave Masaki by herself?" Hitsugaya suddenly said in the midst of their silence.

Naori nodded with her attention still focused on the book. "Yeah. She's sleeping."

"Anyone can walk into my barracks and find the baby."

"Who in the world would even enter a captain's quarters?" Naori retorted back.

Speaking of the devil. "Hi Captain!" Matsumoto loudly announced as she slammed open the doors and paraded into the room.

"What is it? Matsumoto?" Hitsugaya grumbled. His writing hand was shaking now as if he was controlling himself to not break the brush.

On the other hand, Naori quickly hid the book under the coffee table and retreated out of the room. Being a Fifth Seat officer who had daily access to the office and had already served her position for decades, she knew what was going to happen next. Out of instinct, she ran for it.

"You see Captain! I was in my barracks a moment ago when I found out that something was missing! My cute, little book full of baby pictures was stolen last night! Somebody robbed me Captain!" She whined. "So I was looking all over for it, and believe me! I searched everywhere! So, I peeked into your quarters and guess what I found?" Matsumoto excitedly held up a little, thin strand of dull blue. It looked like it came straight off a piece of fabric, specifically, Naori's sleeping kimono. "Say! What is this doing in your quarters? If my memory serves me right, only Naori-chan wears this color. Did you invite Naori over or something? What did you two do? Tell me all the details! I hope nothing got too dirty! Haha!"

"MATSUMOTO!" The young captain furiously yelled, shaking everything from plants to chairs. He slammed a fist onto his desk, rattling the ink bottle and the stacks of paperwork. Though, it was not enough to frighten Matsumoto. Even if the temperature dropped a good ten degrees, she didn't flinch.

"Did you really?" She asked in excitement and curiosity.

"N-No! Ridiculous!" Hitsugaya yelled back, his cheeks blushing the color of bright red. "Naori was on night patrol yesterday. That stupid officer got lazy as usual and wore her night clothes on patrol."

Matsumoto paused, placing a finger on her chin and thought deeply about it. "That would make sense…" She mused. Though it seemed a little out of character for Naori to stoop down to her laziness, she was a mischievous person who liked getting out of tedious work.

"So…what were you doing in my quarters? You know I'll never take something like that." Hitsugaya asked, irritation veins sprouting left and right on his head.

"Oh! Uh…" Matsumoto stammered, steadily backing out of the door. "You see…I wanted a little sake break on my treasure hunt. So…I went to the storage closet to get some…"

"You're using my own home as your _sake closet_?" Hitsugaya dangerously said, his hands finally snapping the brush into two.

"Oh! Would you look at the time? I still haven't found my book! I guess I'll look around some more! Take care of the paperwork, okay Captain!" Matsumoto quickly said in a hurry and flash stepped her butt out of there.

"MATSUMOTO!"

Naori peeked into the office once the danger was gone. Her bright golden eyes blinked twice to get a good picture with her shoulder-length hair bobbing around as usual. The desk was somewhat of a mess. Some papers were strewn everywhere and it seemed some drops of ink escaped the bottle, staining the wooden desk. Her captain was burying his head into his arms, probably out of frustration or he was concocting plans to permanently freeze Matsumoto to her desk. Either way, he wasn't looking so good.

"At least she didn't find the baby." Naori optimistically commented, picking up the paperwork.

Hitsugaya looked at her, rolled his eyes, and fixed up his desk. "So what was your great idea again?"

Naori raised her eyebrow on that one. "Why are you asking now? What about all this paperwork?"

"I'll finish it eventually. I just need a break." He sighed, finally setting his desk back to order.

Naori simply shrugged. That made sense. She pointed at a particular page in her book. "Masaki-chan needs toys."

He frowned. "Isn't she a bit too young for that?"

"Nonsense! She's already playing around with your star clip thing." Naori replied, flipping her book back. "I think the ideal toy for her is a practice sword. A wooden one."

Hitsugaya glanced at her in question. Was she really that bad with kids? Or was she just stupid? "Why in the world would Ichigo Kurosaki's daughter be playing around with dangerous weapons at five months?"

"It's only a practice sword. It won't hurt her at all. Besides, considering her spiritual energy and her parents, I think it's best to start earlier then later." Naori replied with her innocent grin.

"No." Hitsugaya flatly replied, running his hand through his spiky hair. "I think she should get much simpler play things to mess around with."

"What? I thought my starter sword idea was genius?"

"No." Hitsugaya flatly replied back, watching Naori's face twist into a scowl.

"But it's a good—"

"No." He still said.

"Fine! She's your adopted baby. I'm just the babysitter." Naori huffed, throwing the book to her side. "So what toy do _you_ want to get for her?"

"I don't know. Why don't you go shopping around for one?"

"I never really had a childhood here and I barely remember one as a human." Naori lowly replied as if Hitsugaya had struck a nerve. "You grew up in District One. I think you'll have a better idea. How about you go looking around for one?"

"No. I have work to do." Hitsugaya rejected, subtly ignoring her change towards irritation.

"I'm just saying…I'm not going to make the best choices in this scenario. So, if you want to keep Masaki quiet, you should go pick out her toys." Naori was in the middle of stating her piece in their dilemma, but this argument reminded her of something familiar. Didn't they solve this out before? "How about we play rock-paper-scissors for it? Whoever loses has to go buy the toys."

A sweat drop rolled down his forehead. "You want to solve this with that children's game. Again?"

"It's the only solution we got. Unless you want to stand here and argue it out." Naori smartly replied and she rose up a fist.

Hitsugaya sighed and raised his fist as well. This was uncomfortable. He didn't want to be caught doing something so childish right in the office. That was just embarrassing. It would break the cold image he spent years building up. But, he wanted this problem to be solved fast or somebody may walk in on them again, and thus, he raised his hand.

"Rock-paper-scissors!"

"Ah! I win!" Naori said, smiling in satisfaction as she pumped up her paper.

Hitsugaya stared at his rock hand before clenching it even tighter and jutting it out into the playing field. "Hold on! Loser has to pay for the toys."

"I win again!" Naori stated happily, pumping her rock hand in victory.

Hitsugaya could only sigh and tuck his hands under the sleeves of his uniform. Today was just not his day! He had a huge load of paperwork to do. His lieutenant refused to any work at all. And he lost a simple game to his subordinate. Twice! Now, he had to go around and buy little kid's toys. People were going to be flipping their heads once they see him going out and buying toys. They knew that he hated toys and anything remotely childish. It would be so unnatural. He would be a laughingstock! But here he was, stuck looking for toys for a little infant.

_OoOoO_

Masaki, disgruntled, pushed away a couple of bright warm colored toys and opted to play with everything else. She would happily toss away an orange sack, a yellow cube, and a red hoop while playing with the blue, green, purple, and black toys only. That would only leave her with about five toys to play with and the rest of the pile going in the trash. It was something that Hitsugaya didn't like. That was a waste of his money.

"Make her play with it." Hitsugaya ordered, pointing at the huge pile of leftover toys and nudged Naori on the arm.

Naori grumbled and grabbed onto an orange toy, shoving it at the infant. "Masaki-chan. Play with this!" That toy was quickly shoved aside by Masaki. Naori sighed and tossed the orange toy back to the huge pile of leftovers. A glare came at her from Hitsugaya, which she merely shrugged off.

"Hibana…" He said through gritted teeth.

"Don't blame me. I don't know why she refuses to use over half of your toys." Naori snapped back.

"Go figure it out." He coolly responded, pushing Naori right at the baby.

"Don't even get me near her! If she sees me-"

A whimper cut through Naori words, shutting both of the young teens as they turned their attention at Masaki. The infant was happily playing with her dark toys when one look at Naori's bright, golden eyes sent her into another crying spree. Hitsugaya merely flinched a little at the whimpers and wails. On the other hand, Naori was ready to have a freak out if anyone had wandered in.

"Look at you." Hitsugaya scolded from behind Naori. "You made her cry again."

"It's not my fault. She just cries on me." Naori sighed, face planting her head into her hands.

Silence. Once her eyes were hidden away, there was nothing but silence. Little Masaki had quieted down a considerable amount and she peacefully resumed her toy playing as if nothing happened. Both of the teens ceased their usual bickering because all their attention was turned towards the peculiar baby. They crept closer to the baby, amazed on how she stopped crying so quickly. Masaki paused a little, glanced up at Hitsugaya, and her eyes darted right towards Naori. Those golden eyes. Those blinding, shiny golden eyes of citrus, was enough to cause the baby to cry once again.

That was when the captain made his move. Before Masaki could even let out a whimper, he quickly clamped his hand over Naori's eyes.

"C-Captain!" Naori yelped, the force literally almost sent her crashing backwards into her captain.

"Hold still." He commanded. Maybe he can solve this mystery of Masaki's constant crying whenever Naori's around. Carefully, at the right moment, he removed his hands and observed. Just as he predicted, tears were welling up into Masaki's eyes. He covered those golden eyes again and Masaki miraculously stopped crying. A couple of more tests later and with Naori's growing impatience, he quickly got this solved out.

"Will you stop having me play peek-a-boo and tell me what's going on?" Naori asked in annoyance, pushing away Hitsugaya's hands.

"It seems that it's your eyes that make her cry-"

"Yeah, I recognized that after that game."

"I'm not done yet." The white hair captain reprimanded his subordinate, groaning in the process. "Specifically it's the color of your eyes that make her cry. That and half of the toys she rejected from me. It clearly evident that Masaki here hates the colors orange, yellow, and red."

Naori cocked a head in confusion, glancing back at the young baby. Wasn't her hair orange? Shouldn't she be crying all the time? But then again, she couldn't really see it since right now; it was only just tuffs of hair. Wait! Didn't someone else have orange hair like her? A smile crept onto Naori's mischievous face and she cracked up right there. "Ichigo must be going through hell raising that kid! Look at his hair! She must cry on sight if he's around!" Naori managed to say between her laughs and cackles. She could already imagine Ichigo moping around in fetal position because his own daughter rejected him.

"Ahem!" Hitsugaya loudly coughed, shutting her up. "In any case, with your eyes, you're basically trouble around Masaki."

"Does that mean I'm relieved from babysitting?"

"No." He simply said, motioning towards the baby still playing around. "You and I are still her guardians for now. Just go buy nice sunglasses or something to cover up your eyes."

"Oh please. Even if I cover up, it still might not change anything. She could still cry." Naori haughtily rejected. Even then, her captain pushed her right into Masaki. She stumbled a bit, her golden eyes growing wide in front of the baby, prompting another set of whimpers. In a panic, Naori quickly closed her eyes, relieved that the expected wailing had disappeared.

Hitsugaya smirked at the girl. He was right after all.

Naori blushed in embarrassment. "Well…I stand corrected." She said, straightening herself back up. "I think I'll go make an appointment with Lieutenant Abarai."

_OoOoO_

Hm…good enough?" The young captain asked the giggling baby next to him.

Masaki smiled, her tiny hands were reaching out to grab on whatever tag was hanging off of Naori's new shades. That was because the tag was shiny, very shiny. It was probably the only shiny thing in the entire product. Naori, being well, Naori, opted to get a dull gray pair of sunglasses that effectively blocked out any warm colors out of her eyes, but in effect, it made her look really depressing. She practically looked like a miserable zombie who didn't want to wake up from its slumber. But she was a fashion disaster to begin with.

"It better be. These cost a fortune. Lieutenant Abarai is crazy to spend all of his paychecks in that store!" Naori scoffed and threw off her purchased sunglasses. She wasn't fan of accessories either. Though one whimper from Masaki was enough to force her to put it back on.

"At least you don't scare her anymore." He noted, pointing out how a comfortable Masaki was playing around on Naori's lap, still totally focused on that shiny, shiny tag. "Besides…" He turned away. "You look better with accessories on…"

"Really? Uh, thanks…" Naori quietly said, feeling her face flush. But at that moment, she felt and heard something near her ear snap. Her sunglasses suddenly became uneven and it swung down to hang off her right ear. Her left eye shone in its golden glory, plain enough for Masaki to see.

She started to cry.

That was when Hitsugaya made his move to completely cover up Naori's eyes again. But with the force he used, he completely toppled over Naori, leading her to fall down and dragging him along. Luckily, this brought Masaki out of sight of her eyes, but it let to yet another uncomfortable position. Masaki was safely sitting on Naori's lap, playing around with those shiny tags. On the other hand, her guardians…they landed right on top of each other. Again.

"What did you do this time?" Hitsugaya half groaned, half whispered.

"I didn't do anything! The baby broke it."

"Yes. When something goes wrong, blame it on the baby." He rolled his eyes and got off of her, helping her up along the way.

"She was playing with it to begin with." Naori quickly justified.

"Whatever. It's useless arguing." He sighed.

She glared back at him for being so passive about this situation. Those sunglasses wasted almost half of her paycheck! And here, he was the one ordering her to buy those glasses. She never wanted to wear them in the first place! "You're paying for it."

"What?"

"She's your baby and she broke my property. Plus you owe me money from the last bet."

"She's also your responsibility as well."

"Responsibility? I'm a forced-to-be-her-babysitter. Now pay up!" She said, reaching out a palm in demand for her money.

He sighed. He hated it when Naori became a stubborn little girl. It was one of the side effects of being with her all the time. Now they're living together to boot. Maybe he'll go along with it after all so to easily end this little squabble. He wondered how Ichigo and Rukia were able to do it. They probably fought more than him and Naori. Besides, seventy-five percent of his paycheck wasn't that much of a big loss. He might even buy her a new pair of sunglasses. Even he had better fashion choices than her.

"Well?"

"I'll pay for it, so shut up." He curtly said, nonchalantly placing a finger on her lips. Pleased to see her flustered reaction, he flash stepped away to make yet another purchase for the two babies living with him.

* * *

><p><em>Wow. I'm so happy and puzzled with the response I'm getting from this story. I'm happy that this story is getting more views than I expected. It's getting more opening views than AON. I'm puzzled because this site loves to act weird on me and it hasn't been showing my story traffic for the past few days. Then, suddenly, everything comes up in a bang! Weird!<em>

_Anyways, thank you for reading and I'm hoping for more reviews!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"Say 'Auntie' not 'Ma'", Naori instructed. She was lying on her stomach, almost at eye-level with Masaki, brandishing out photographs of Rukia and Ichigo. Only a few weeks into babysitting and she had heard the baby say "ma" in her usual syllable babbles. That needed to be changed. She didn't want to unintentionally screw and strip Rukia of her motherhood. That would be bad. Thus, she resolved to teach Masaki about aunties and uncles. "He's your uncle", Naori further stated, pointing at Hitsugaya.

Irritated, with a swift motion, Hitsugaya skillfully removed the shiny sunglasses off of Naori's face and in plain sight of Masaki. The baby took one long look at her eyes before a tear and a whimper came out.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Naori exclaimed, making a grab for her sunglasses before anything got too out of hand.

"Don't ever address me as 'Uncle'", he warned, accompanying his statement with a look at Masaki. She didn't mind and even giggled right back at him.

"Masaki-chan likes it." Naori nonchalantly replied back, watching the little infant play around at her feet before lifting her up. Luckily, Masaki had become well accustomed to the golden-eyed shinigami…well…only when her sunglasses were on and when Hitsugaya was around, but that's beside the point! She playfully lifted Masaki up to her face and tickled her at the sides while asking, "What does Masaki-chan want me to cook for dinner tonight? Curry? Stew? Stir fried?"

"Don't poison her."

Naori glared at him, "I'm not poisoning her. She likes my cooking."

"Maybe because it's her only access to any sort of food." He replied back with a grimace. He remembered those old times when Naori was put in charge brewing his tea for him. He never put her in that position ever again.

Naori placed Masaki back onto the ground before confronting her captain. "Maybe you've never tried my cooking in the first place. It's. Perfectly. Edible." Naori said, jutting her finger into his chest with every word. Though at that time, a brilliant idea popped in her head. "Captain. Why don't you try eating dinner with us some time?"

"I'll pass."

"Come on! I'll play you for it."

Masaki's eyes lit up once Naori had said that. This little baby was intrigued by this usual game between her two guardians. It was whimsical when one or the other lost. She could clearly sense both Naori and Hitsugaya when they were playing that game. This child's game was her highlight of the day. It was her entertainment.

Hitsugaya sighed and raised his fist. After shaking it once, twice, and thrice, he played scissors and won. That game alone was enough to put the argument to rest. After a couple of times of playing this child's game, he and Naori had unofficially decided that it was going to be their main problem solver. If they ever got into an argument concerning Masaki, play rock-paper-scissors. Who was going to change her diaper? Play rock-paper-scissors. What should Masaki play today? Play rock-paper-scissors. It was that simple.

He stated, "In that case, I'm leaving."

"Suit yourself." Naori shrugged. But she noticed Masaki getting ready to throw a fit as she was looking up at the captain. Naori picked up Masaki and held her in front of Hitsugaya. "Though Masaki-chan here may think differently." She pointed out.

Masaki was pouting.

Hitsugaya glanced at the baby, who was unfortunately at eye level with him when she was being carried. Masaki was still pouting at him in a way that sort of reminded him of Ichigo's usual scowls. Her amber eyes were narrowed and her tiny lips were turned upside down. It was as if Masaki required him to eat with her. She wanted everything to be done with no questions asked. That's a typical Kurosaki.

But the captain still shook his head. "I really can't tonight. There's a load of paperwork back at the office, enough to make me pull an all-nighter."

Like he expected, a whimper was coming right out of Masaki. Her eyes were sparkling and her bottom lip was beginning to quiver. This was a tantrum, ready to explode.

Naori gently rocked the baby girl while softly saying, "It's okay Masaki-chan. Maybe next time?" And she turned towards the main hallway and left.

_OoOoO_

Naori winced at the whimpers coming from the child and she tried lifting up a spoon of her stir-fried rice towards Masaki's quivering mouth. This child was still pouting and moping around because her favorite babysitter was not here. Naori ignored that while continuing on with her duties. "Stop fussing around and eat your rice." She ordered, pushing the spoon at her face.

Masaki shook her head, pushing herself far away from the rice-filled spoon. At one point, even her tiny fists were coming out to swat away the spoon.

Naori just looked at the baby, puzzled at her reaction. Why was she being picky now? Masaki never had a problem with her homemade cooking before. She actually enjoyed some of the dishes Naori made. As Naori was thinking, she found her sunglasses suddenly fall off from her face and somebody grabbing her hand holding the spoon. As Masaki opened her mouth to cry, the food was safely shoved in, effectively shutting up the baby and getting her to eat her food. Even Masaki looked pretty happy about this new person.

"Seeing you guys a few seconds ago, Masaki probably hates your food." A distinct, smart remark was enough to notify Naori of who it was before she even turned around.

Naori hastily placed her sunglasses back on before addressing her short captain. "She does not hate my food."

Hitsugaya smirked as he sat down at the low table. "What was she trying to not eat a second ago?"

"She's just fussy." Naori mumbled. "But what are you doing here? Don't you have paperwork to do?"

"I put it off for now. It became too much." He steadily replied, resisting eye contact with the giggling Masaki.

That was such a lie. Even without feeling the change in his natural electrical impulses, Naori could tell that he was lying. The reason he came back? Maybe he actually had a soft spot for the baby? Or maybe his guilty conscience was kicking in? Whatever it was, she decided not to address it. Instead, she gestured at his dinner table. "Sit down and eat. You must be starving from holing yourself in that office all day."

"Eh…" Hitsugaya nervously paused, staring at the steaming food in front of him. He still had nightmares after drinking her horrible, sugar driven tea. He already ignored Hinamori's and Matsumoto's insistence that her actual cooking was pretty decent. For someone who could make pouring hot water on tea leaves taste horrible, he doubted that.

Naori frowned at his nervous hesitation before wrapping her arm around his shoulder and the other hand grabbing a spoonful of rice. Since he was pretty darn convinced that she couldn't cook, she was going to change that. Even if it meant shoving food down his throat and possibly choking him.

"If you even dare—." Too late. She already got a good spoonful into his mouth. As the food was tickling his taste buds, a light feeling rose up to his cheeks. Surprisingly, for someone who can make tea taste horrible, the cooked food was pretty good. Tasty. Delectable. Delicious. And edible! How could someone make tea taste horrible, but make complicated dishes taste good? Maybe Naori sucked at simple stuff and was actually competent in hard tasks? He should make her do more complicated paperwork from now on.

Naori smiled at her captain's reaction. She knew he was going to like it or find it edible at least. "So how is it?"

As he going to outright say that he was wrong and Naori was right? No. He just mumbled out his answer and shot a glare at Naori for if she ever asked him to elaborate on that. Luckily, she got the message and continued on feeding Masaki. Yet, the baby was more concentrated on attempting to play with Hitsugaya than actually eating.

Frustrated, Naori just stopped trying. "How about I leave you two alone and you guys have your fun?"

"No." He quickly interjected. He was not particularly good at playing the father.

"You might as eat some more." Naori replied back, picking up more rice with her chopsticks.

"No—" It was too late.

She managed to get yet another mound of her fried rice into his mouth. Maybe that trick-your-target-to-open-their-mouth was a bad thing for her to learn. He should have never done it in the first place. But since Masaki's pickiness reminded him of Hinamori when they were little, he knew that little trick would get her to eat. Now it's backfiring on him. Great.

Naori merely didn't think of him as she took a bite from her food. "It's not that bad." She said while chewing her food. She took Masaki's bowl, scooped up another spoonful of rice, and held it up to the orange haired baby. "Masaki-chan, say 'ah'."

Masaki actually listened and opened her tiny mouth, enveloping the rice mush. Her attempts of moving the food around made her cheeks puff up considerably and her large, wide eyes contributed to her cuteness. Anyone who was with her would have fainted from her adorable face. Not that Hitsugaya was falling for it. Speaking of him, the baby suddenly turned towards him, gesturing at him in unintelligible ways. Did she want him to do something for her?

"Do you want him to feed you?" Naori only asked once before forcing the spoon on her captain. This could get interesting.

Frantically juggling the spoon, he stammered, "Wait! Hold on! I don't-I can't possibly-"

"It's not difficult. She likes you better anyways." She pushed Masaki even closer towards him as a boost.

Resigned to his fate, he hesitantly picked up another spoonful of Masaki's rice. The little infant cooed and giggled at his awkwardness before opening her mouth to let him feed her. As his hand got closer, he felt those uncertain butterflies vanish from his stomach. That strange task of feeding a baby was suddenly becoming something so simple. Unfortunately, the spoon only got a centimeter from the baby's mouth until…

"Captain! I need sake!" That annoying sound! That voice! It could only belong to one person!

"Captain Hitsugaya! It's good to…see…you…uh…" Her red-haired companion also greeted, but he stopped halfway. Why? Because Renji and Matsumoto were too busy gaping at the scene before them. That frozen scene of the two alarmed kids staring back and Hitsugaya's frozen hand dropping the spoon. Masaki began to cry.

_OoOoO_

The chain of Hitsugaya's shikai was firmly wrapped around Renji, making him unable to move at all. His crescent blade, that was holding the chain together, was awkwardly placed right between Renji's legs. If Hitsugaya wanted to inflict a thousand years of pain on the poor lieutenant, all he had to do was pull. On the other hand, Naori's shikai was also activated and it was charging up dangerously right in front of Matsumoto's face. The constant shocks of electricity were making the blonde's hair stand up on its ends. She could electrify her lieutenant to death if she wished. All she had to do was say the word.

"I think you guys are overreacting."

_OoOoO_

"I knew something was up! Finally! It's about time—" Renji could have continued if it wasn't for Hitsugaya jutting him in the stomach with his sheath.

"Impossible." Naori could only remark, sipping on her tea.

"Even if she and I were to _get together_—" Pff! There was a spit take on that. "Why would _our baby_ have orange hair?" Pff! Another spit take.

Renji's face contorted from a relaxed glee to sudden anger while Matsumoto gasped, "Orange hair! You mean…"

"Damn that Ichigo!" Renji growled, pounding his fist into the dinner table and subtly scaring Masaki. "Damn him! When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna mutilate him till even Rukia can't recognize him! I'm gonna Bankai his ass till next Friday. I'm gonna—"

"Simmer down Renji." Matsumoto said, pushing his intimidating posture back. When she was done with him, she finally turned at Masaki. "Aww! Look at her! She's so cute! Aren't you so cute? Yes you are!" Her voice noticeably changed from her usual lusty tone to a cutesy, gushy, high-pitched voice mostly used for babies.

Masaki looked like she shitted her diapers and lots of whimpers were coming out of her. She hugged onto Naori a bit tighter, that shinigami she once cried on sight, and Masaki was latching right onto her, never letting go. Naori seemed to notice this too, placing a reassuring hand on the frightened baby.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto! You're scaring her." The red haired lieutenant criticized the blonde, pulling her back.

"And you're not?" Matsumoto snapped back. "Look at you! Look at that red, pineapple head of yours! And those tattoos! Ugh! You'll make anybody cry!"

"And what about you…" Renji was about to argue back, but looking at Matsumoto, there was nothing to argue back. She was one of the top _hottest_ women around Soul Society.

"Ah! Speechless! I have that effect." Matsumoto grinned, turning her attention back on playing with Masaki. "I can't wait to play dress-up! You are going to look so cute! I'm going to put you in a kimono! I'm going to dress you up like a doll! Rukia's going to be so proud she had such a cute daughter!"

Masaki looked like she was ready to cry. Naori could feel her shinigami uniform tighten around those balls of fist. Why was the baby so frightened? Rangiku Matsumoto. Blonde. Renji Abarai. Red. Both of them were already labeled as 'terrifying' by Masaki. Even Naori didn't even seem as scary anymore.

That was not Hitsugaya was concerned about right now. Matsumoto, he knew, could keep a secret. But Renji… "Lieutenant Abarai. Can you keep a secret? Even from your own captain?"

"I don't know Captain Hitsugaya." Renji replied, shaking his head. "I knew this might have happened sooner or later. I didn't think this soon. They're in so much trouble right now. You're in trouble too. How did you, a captain, even get into this?"

Naori caught his eye. "Don't look at me. I'm just following orders."

"It's me. Not her." Hitsugaya stated, letting Naori relax. "Ichigo and Rukia got my grandmother caught up in this so I had to help her out. Masaki Kurosaki became my responsibility after that."

"Captain! Do they know?" Matsumoto asked in the midst of her 'playing' with Masaki.

"Not yet. It's going to be hard to meet up with them to talk about this."

"There's the matter with Captain Kuchiki." Naori remarked as well.

"Oh yeah! And that! My captain is going to slaughter Kurosaki. He's never going to let this one go. He might as well just take Rukia away and lock her up."

Hitsugaya kept staring down at the red haired lieutenant. He needed an absolute answer. "So, can you keep this a secret from him? Think about the Kurosaki family. Think about Rukia. Think about her baby."

There was a long silence after that. It had gotten so silent that everybody could hear a pin drop or that bamboo water fountain outside. Even Masaki quieted down noticeably. Naori, Hitsugaya, and Matsumoto were all holding onto their breaths. All of their attention was on Renji Abarai. What decision was he going to make?

Renji sighed after that long silence. "Alright. I'll try to not say much. But I can't really assure that Masaki here is going to be kept a secret. She already has so much spiritual energy in her, she can be found out in seconds. And there's the matter of you and Naori together in this. Somebody's going to be suspicious. Soon enough, you two are gong to be found out."

"I'm fully aware of that." Hitsugaya replied.

Naori nodded. "Me too."

Renji nodded back in agreement. He still wasn't sure on this whole plan, but it would have to do for now. Maybe, when the time was right, he could take a different route to solve this situation. But for now, lay low. "I guess I'll leave for now. My captain wants me to work earlier tomorrow." He walked up to Masaki, to her horror, and picked her up till face level. "Masaki Kurosaki. You look exactly like that damn Kurosaki _and _you have his enormous power. Grow up and kick your father's ass!"

"Hey Captain! Can I drop by for a visit anytime soon?" Matsumoto cooed, teasing up at the indifferent, short captain.

"No!" He harshly rejected. "You have a lot of paperwork tomorrow! In fact, you skipped out today and yesterday! I want all of that paperwork to be done and turned in by tomorrow. You will never see the baby again till you do your damn job!"

"Aw! But Captain!" She whined.

"No excuses!"

"Hmphh. Fine!" Matsumoto said, clearly irritated, and she picked herself up to leave. Not before teasing the kid couple a bit more. "I'll leave the _parents_ to have their fun. You better raise little Masaki-chan right! And I know how you two love to bicker like an old, _married couple_. Just try not to scare _your daughter_ okay? Take good care of Masaki-chan and _your girlfriend_, Captain Hitsugaya!" She cheekily winked at her captain.

A blushing Hitsugaya bellowed back, "She is _not_ my girlfriend!"

Naori frowned in contrast. "I don't like him."

"Bye!" The two chorused back and quickly vanished.

"MATSUMOTOOOOOO!"

With Hitsugaya still fuming at them, Naori sighed in relief now that that fiasco was gone. But she took notice on the little infant lying on the ground. Did she fall asleep that fast? Nope. "Looks like Masaki-chan fainted." She remarked, gently picking up the baby.

"She must have had a heart attack after seeing all that hair." Hitsugaya simply replied as he collapsed next to her. He felt the side of his arm hit Naori's shoulder and travel down her arm. In fact, he was already leaning against her side while sitting down.

"I hope Masaki-chan can get accustomed to them soon…" Naori mumbled out loud.

"Why?"

"Well…" Naori nervously shuffled around her feet. "We are living together. People are going to get suspicious. So…Lieutenant Renji and Lieutenant Matsumoto can help out babysitting so it won't look so obvious."

He stared dumbfounded at the girl. "You serious?"

Naori nodded.

Already, in his head, he could think of all the things that could go wrong. Renji could go to work smelling like baby poop and he had to explain it to his captain. Hell! He could just blab about it dead drunk! And Matsumoto. She was just even scarier. She was an unpredictable woman! She could do anything! She could turn his barracks into a dollhouse! She could burn it to the ground! She could make Masaki a dead drunk!

"I'm-I'm not sure about that…" He stammered out.

"Your call." Naori shrugged.

Suddenly, she felt a stir in her arms. Masaki had woken up and she was gazing right up at Naori. Her sunglasses were absent.

"Oh crap."

"Where are they?" Hitsugaya frantically looked around, searching for those shades.

Remarkably, Masaki was silent. She didn't cry. She didn't whimper. There was no trace of fear in her eyes. She looked quite perplexed. Comfortable even. She looked glad that it was only Naori that was holding onto her. And she would look even better if it was Hitsugaya too. The little baby even giggled, playing around with Naori's hair accessories.

"She's not crying!" Naori exclaimed, surprise clearly written all over her face.

"Maybe Matsumoto and Lieutenant Abarai scared her so much that you don't seem as scary anymore." He suggested, pulling back her side bangs to reveal part of her golden eyes. "I mean it's only your eyes."

A blush had risen to her face and her golden eyes widened once again. She quickly shook her head, flinging around her dark blue hair so he wasn't touching her anymore. "Oh would you look at the time! It's bedtime already. Masaki-chan needs her sleep." She said, all out of the blue, but she needed to change the subject. Thus, she got up and walked away to put that young child to rest.

Hitsugaya sighed in the settling comfort, lying down on the floor of his home. This evening was pretty nice, except for the intrusions of lieutenants Matsumoto and Renji, and he enjoyed it for that while, surprisingly. He didn't intend on coming home so early. He was really planning on doing all that paperwork till the next day, but Masaki's almost temper tantrum had him convinced. He also wasn't planning on trying Naori's cooking, but he was glad he did. She was always a nice surprise, a refreshing person to keep around. He always liked that about her.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Her light voice called for him.

"Yes?"

"She's not sleeping."

* * *

><p><em>I'm so happy of the response from this story! I love that so many people are reading it! Thank you for reading! Please review if you have time.<br>_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

A young girl had her head rested in her arms with her chest bumping up against the table with every breath. Even a small puddle of drool was starting to gather under her mouth. She was peacefully resting. But the baby next to her was up bright and early. Her orange locks shone in radiance and her brown eyes glimmered from the sunlight shining through an open window. The young infant continued to admire the beauty outside of this window when a familiar spiritual pressure swept over her at full force. She giggled in glee, clapping her hands for his arrival, before crawling over towards the sleeping shinigami.

"Mmm… Masaki-chan… What is it now?" Naori cracked open a golden eye. The young girl yawned for five seconds straight, stretching out her back and arms. She was dead tired! She practically spent the past couple of weeks trying to get Masaki to sleep at her bedtimes. But there was a problem. She won't sleep! The pseudo-mother tried everything she could from the baby book. She tried music boxes, stories, television, and more music boxes. But none got the baby to sleep! Basically, Naori had to stake out for a couple more hours until the baby finally fell asleep. Then, she knocked out a couple minutes after only to be woken up again by the early-bird baby.

Masaki made more incoherent noises and she sort of gestured at the door.

"Are you bored of being cooped up in here?" Naori questioned. She obviously did not understand baby talk. Even after three months of being Masaki's nanny, she had no clue of what Masaki was trying to say. But Hitsugaya seemed to have some sort of an idea…it must be his age. Speaking of Hitsugaya…

His noticeable single bang of snowy hair peeked out from the rice paper doors and she could notice the shadow of his captain haori flapping around. Hitsugaya walked up to her, puzzled at why she was blankly staring at him. "Are you okay?" He asked, placing the palm of his hand on her forehead. She didn't seem to notice at all. Those golden orbs looked pretty dazed. "You're tired aren't you?" He guessed.

She nodded against his hand. "That baby does not sleep." She sighed, feeling that her captain's hand was now her head's support. Usually Naori would be feeling pretty awkward being this close to her captain, but today, she didn't care. She was too tired.

"You're more sleep deprived than my huge paperwork days." Hitsugaya remarked. He let Naori rest at his side because he knew that she was too exhausted to even move. Masaki was also playing by his leg, which he let her continue because moving would mean letting Naori topple over.

But soon, that became unnecessary. Once Naori heard his remark, she suddenly sprung back to being fully awake as if an adrenaline rush hit her. "Wait! Isn't today paperwork day? Why are you here?"

"Matsumoto." He answered with a smile of satisfaction. "She desperately wants to visit the baby. She'll do any bribe if it means seeing Masaki again."

"I see you've stooped down to my level of mischief." Naori sighed, smiling as well. "So…what are you doing here? Slacking off from paperwork? Afternoon naptime? Want to spend quality time with Masaki-chan and I?"

"Shut up." He grumbled. "I finished my paperwork. This is why." He passed along a piece of paper.

"Mission notice." Naori noted at the title before skimming over the paper. Once she was done, she promptly tossed it back onto the table. "What's so special about this?" She scoffed. It was one of those normal missions given out to normal officers. Go to this place, kill a bunch of hollows, come back later.

"What's the area?"

"Karakura Town."

"Who's living there?"

"Ichigo and Rukia Kurosaki." Naori's eyes widened once she had mindlessly answered that question. "They made their move already?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Why else would they send a captain to kill little hollows? There's no doubt about it. Soul Society wants to find Masaki now. When I go on this mission, I'm going to have to meet up with the couple and talk with them about this."

"Have fun. Especially because Masaki-chan is here of all places." Naori yawned, lying back down on the floor. With her captain gone, she could get some snooze time in her schedule.

"That's why you're coming with me."

"What?" Naori sprang back up to life. Again.

"I'm going to need an alibi just in case Soul Society thinks I did something wrong. Of course, Matsumoto needs to stay in the office to finish that paperwork so I can't bring her." He simply stated.

"Isn't there anybody else? What about Lieutenant Abarai?" Naori suggested.

"I don't want to deal with Abarai wanting to murder Ichigo on sight." He sighed.

"But who's going to take care of Masaki-chan while we're gone?"

"I don't know." Hitsugaya shrugged. "I guess Abarai can take care of her. It's only for a short while."

Naori winced a little at the thought. First of all, she never really imagined Renji taking care of children. Second, she thought the idea of it was just plain scary. Third, Masaki was terrified of Renji's hair and it would be a nightmarish experience for him and her. "I don't think that's a good idea. Masaki-chan is going to be crying all day long." She subtly pointed out.

"It's only for a little while." He argued back.

"So what if it's a little while? Masaki-chan is terrified of him." She shot back.

"Wok! Wok! Wok!" Masaki babbled out, slamming a fist into the ground. It was evident to the baby of what was going to happen next.

"Rock-paper-scissors!" Both of them shouted, throwing their hands into the playing field. Masaki's face lighted up in glee while she watched the game transpire in front of her. Naori's face had twisted into a face of worry while her captain smirked at the victory. Hitsugaya had paper and Naori had rock.

"I win. Lieutenant Abarai is the new babysitter." He declared.

She punched herself for losing.

_OoOoO_

He sheathed his unreleased sword after slaying the last hollow. Everything was going by like a breeze ever since he landed in Karakura Town. He found every single hollow possible and made quick work of them. And then, there was Naori who liked taking her damn time to slay hollows. By the time he got near the Kurosaki residence, she had finished her last hollow and landed right beside him. Her released zanpakuto was still smoking from electrical discharges. The blue haired shinigami was panting and sweating once she met up with him.

"Are you really still that weak?" He teased, letting the poor girl catch her breath.

"Sorry if I'm not a genius prodigy. If my memory is correct, I had to fight a bigger crowd of hollows." She calmly scoffed back in her typical, cold attitude.

He snorted at her excuse. "I asked you which one you wanted. It's not my fault you can't count."

"Oh shut up!" She was about to elaborate more on that taunt, but she could see the worried eyes of her captain. He wasn't paying any more attention on her. He was looking at the entrance of the two-story home in front of him. The home of the forbidden couple was right there in front of them.

"Naori…you ready?" He asked, walking up to the door.

Naori nodded.

Hitsugaya rang the high-pitched bell of the household. The atmosphere suddenly became eerily quiet as the two waited for somebody to answer the door. Not long afterwards, a raven-haired woman had greeted them after cautiously opening the oak door.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" Rukia exclaimed, opening the door further. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just doing some patrol duty. Nothing special. I'm going to go back soon anyways." He said, walking into the home. His first impression of their home was that it was pretty cozy. He was only in the hallway and he could see a tan couch peeking out from around the corner and a stairway straight ahead. Their home strangely felt like fresh air, maybe because of the potted plants sitting beside the hallways or all the windows were opened. Traveling down the narrow hallway, pictures of Ichigo and Rukia were hanging on the white walls and off to the right, he could see a familiar orange head resting on a sofa.

"Hey Toushirou. Long time no see." Ichigo's voice called out that annoying name.

Hitsugaya grumbled, fighting the urge to not grab his zanpakuto. "It's Captain Hitsugaya to you."

Ichigo's chestnut eyes traveled past Hitsugaya, past Rukia, and landed right onto Naori. "Why are you not with Karin?"

"W-What?" The captain stood there, too shocked to even move.

"Who is this Karin?" Naori folded her arms, staring at her captain with a questioning look.

"The last time I saw you, I thought you and Karin had a thing for each other."

"You and Karin had a _thing_?"

"Even Yuzu thought you guys were dating."

"You're _dating_?"

"YOU BASTARDS!"

Hitsugaya already had veins sprouting out of his forehead and everybody could see steams of anger. Naori was the first to start laughing and then Ichigo followed soon afterwards.

"Sorry. I was only kidding." Ichigo managed to say between his laughs.

Another chuckle escaped from Naori. "Same."

"Pricks…" Hitsugaya angrily grumbled, shooting glares at both Ichigo and Naori. This was stupid. He'd already expect something like this from his impish subordinate. But Ichigo? He was a different story. It was already annoying that the substitute shinigami refused to call him by his title, but to now ridicule him! And in front of Naori too!

As Hitsugaya was thinking of ways to get revenge at the pair, Ichigo ignored the tiny captain and focused back on the girl next to his wife. "Hello there. I don't think I've met you before."

Rukia placed her hands on Naori's shoulders. "She's one of Captain Hitsugaya's officers."

"I've only heard rumors about you and Kuchiki-san—I mean Kurosaki. I don't think I've officially met you." Naori remarked, reaching out to shake hands. "Hello. My name is Naori Hibana. I'd prefer if you call me by my first name. I am currently the Fifth seat officer of the Tenth Division under Captain Hitsugaya. It's nice to meet you."

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. You can call me Ichigo." He shortly introduced himself. "So…what rumors did you hear about us?"

"Ichigo!" Rukia exclaimed, her face blushing red.

Naori shrugged. "Rumors like how you two are so cute together. How you are most likely going to get married to each other…"

"Um…Naori-san…" Rukia asked, tightening her grip on the girl's shoulder so much that the golden-eyed girl knew what she was getting at. "Is there anything else?"

"Masaki." Hitsugaya said, quickly grabbing the attention of the couple. Out of the corner of his eye, he could clearly see Ichigo getting ready to grab his badge. "Don't get so worried about it now. I'm not here to arrest you." He quickly stated, watching Rukia's hands relax on Naori's shoulders and Ichigo's hand retreat from grabbing his badge.

"Why are you here? And how much do you know?" Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the pair. Yet, neither Hitsugaya nor Naori rose to answer.

"Have a seat." Rukia softly said, gesturing at the couches.

Hitsugaya nodded at her hospitality and sat down beside Ichigo with Naori closely following along. "Your baby is safe. Soul Society doesn't know a thing yet. Only four people currently know about Masaki and that's me, her, Matsumoto, and Abarai."

"But how did you find out? We left her with a Rukongai resident." Rukia pointed out.

"You left her with my grandma. Your baby was leaking out so much spiritual pressure, there's no way I'd let my grandma take care of her." He calmly stated. "I also didn't turn Masaki Kurosaki in because that would put my grandma in danger."

"Where is Masaki now?" Ichigo demanded. He needed to know everything about his precious daughter. Her current conditions, her location, everything.

"She's safe." Naori softly replied at the worried father. "I'm taking care of her."

"How is she? Is she alright?" The worried mother quickly asked.

"Naori was previously trained in the Fourth Division. We assure you that she is in good hands." The captain reassured the young, worried couple.

Rukia sighed in relief as she collapsed next to Ichigo. Unfortunately Ichigo was still not convinced. How could he easily trust Hitsugaya? He was one of the many captains serving under Soul Society. Just because he said that Masaki is safe, doesn't mean that he could automatically trust him. Rukia stood up after a brief moment of silence, saying something about getting Urahara, and she left the living room. Only Hitsugaya and Ichigo were having some sort of staring contest while Naori was staring off at a distance.

"Hold on. How can I trust you? How do I know that you're not a double agent being sent by Soul Society?" Ichigo wearily asked, watching Hitsugaya's every move.

The young captain merely sighed at that question. This was going to take longer than he expected. "Naori." He instructed, gesturing at Naori to make her move.

The young girl nodded, standing up to approach Ichigo. Even Ichigo flinched a little when she got too close for comfort. "Relax. You'll see your precious daughter soon enough." Naori's light voice said. Her nimble fingers reached out at his forehead, resting right above the bridge of his nose. Ichigo's eyes widened from her touch and the electricity emitting from her fingertips, but they soon became dull and relaxed. Naori's eyes also became dull as well and her eyes were drooping down into a blank stare.

At first, he thought she was going to probe into his mind or something after sending in all that electricity. But it was different. It was actually the opposite. He felt like he was seeing everything through her eyes. He could see the door before him open to reveal Hitsugaya, a really pissed off Hitsugaya. He heard him grumble Naori's title, then grumble about a visit, and then told her to go to an adjacent room. Right in that room was his little daughter, peacefully sleeping. The next couple of scenes felt like a blur of just his Masaki. She was crying at times, laughing at times, smiling even. Then there were a couple of scenes where she looked terrified because of Matsumoto and Renji. He could even hear Renji's last words for Masaki.

"Captain Hitsugaya. What is she doing?" Rukia gasped as she entered back into the room only to be greeted with this scene.

"Memory exchange." He simply replied. "It's one of her special abilities. She can transmit her memories out of her body and into another person by using the electricity in her body. She's probably showing her memories of Masaki right now." He noticed Rukia's worried expression as she was looking at her husband. "Don't worry. It's perfectly safe. I've had her do it to me a couple times."

Right as he said that, Ichigo quickly snapped out of it. "Damn that Renji. I'll show him." He growled, shaking his fist from anger.

"Well. Well. It seems we have some visitors." A familiar hat and clogs shopkeeper remarked, freely flapping around his fan in his face as he cheekily grinned. "I assume you two are the new Auntie and Uncle."

"We are _not_ the aunt and uncle of this child." Naori stated, taking back her place beside Hitsugaya.

"Well, in any case…" Urahara closed his fan. "It's not safe for all of us to gather around here. Soul Society already sent a captain here to investigate. There's going to be more to investigate if they sense a huge amount of spiritual pressure coming from this place."

"Then, we'll go to yours." Ichigo suggested. "Come on Rukia." He grabbed onto his wife's hand.

"Ichigo." Rukia sternly replied, sliding his grip off from her hands. "You should go alone with them. It's only going to be more suspicious if we all go to Urahara's. I'll stay here and you go."

"Okay." He finally said after some thinking.

"Naori. Stay here with Rukia while I go with them." Hitsugaya ordered, following the two men.

"Yes sir." Naori replied back in an orderly fashion.

He nodded and disappeared out the door. Now, it was only Naori and Rukia sitting in the living room. They could feel the spiritual pressure of the three males drift further and further until it settled around a whole neighborhood away. The two females glanced at each other before sharing warm smiles.

"How about I get you some tea?" Rukia suggested. She headed off to the kitchen and came back with a green kettle and some cups.

"Thank you! Kuchiki—I mean, Kurosaki-san." Naori gasped as she received the warm cup of steaming tea,

"Call me Rukia." The woman warmly replied with a smile. "So, how is my Masaki?"

"Yes Rukia-san. She's been doing well. She's healthy and adjusting well in her current situation. She should be sleeping in my captain's barracks." Naori reported back.

"_Captain's _barracks? I thought you took care of her." Rukia raised her eye in question for that one.

"Ah well…" Naori dropped her eyes to avoid Rukia's gaze. "Masaki-chan is only comfortable around Captain Hitsugaya. So I had to take care of her in my captain's barracks."

"So you're living with him?"

"Um…yeah…"

"So it is true. You and Captain Hitsugaya are an item." Rukia chuckled at Naori's puzzled look. "What? Did you think there were _only_ rumors about Ichigo and I?"

"Captain Hitsugaya and I am no such item." Naori calmly stated, but her flushing cheeks said otherwise. "We are only working together in a strictly captain-to-subordinate relationship. There is nothing more than that."

"Oh really?" Rukia let out a cheeky grin on that one, but Naori didn't seem entertained at all. Oh well. She'll just drop it for now. "Is Masaki bonding with you alright?"

"I've had a bit of trouble in the beginning. Oh, by the way, I recommend Ichigo-san to dye his hair dark for a couple of months." Naori said, glancing at her golden eyes reflecting off from a nearby vase. "Anyways I still have some trouble taking care of her. Honestly I'm not all versatile with infants. My problem right now is that Masaki-chan doesn't sleep."

"Getting Masaki to sleep? I would usually sing her a song." Rukia suggested.

"A song? You're a singer?" Naori questioned.

"I'm not a singer. It's called a lullaby. Masaki always falls asleep after a lullaby." Rukia clarified, wondering how a trained former Fourth Division officer didn't know about lullabies.

Naori tilted her head in question. "A lullaby? Can you sing for me?"

"Sing?" Rukia almost dropped her cup of tea on that one. "It's a bit embarrassing to be singing right now."

"It's only me. And I'm not a singer myself." Naori frantically stated. She needed Masaki to sleep so she could sleep. "It'll help Masaki-chan sleep!"

"Okay then…" Rukia took a deep breath.

_OoOoO_

**_My sweet child, sleeping in the snow_**

**_Your snow covered hair, lips of frost_**

Hitsugaya groaned in annoyance as he pushed aside the front door of his barracks. The little meeting between him, Ichigo, and Urahara was unfortunately less than productive and even worse, not going in his favor. It was supposed to be a meeting concerning the status and well-being of the couple and their forbidden child. It started off with a good debate. Urahara agreed along with their plans and he offered, if needed, any further assistance or ways to permanently disappear from Soul Society. That was the good part. Then, somehow, the conversation drifted towards how Masaki was doing and how they were taking care of her. Then, he blurted out that one little fact that he _really_ should have glued his mouth shut about.

"I'm living together with Naori."

This gave birth to other beautiful sentences like, "Damn! You done _it_ yet?" or "Man! You've outdone yourself this time!" and also," Nice catch! Good job!" This one aggravated him the most, "She's going to make a great _wife_." He promptly froze that orange head on the spot.

**_Will you still lie there? Sweet child_**

**_When ice and snow come your way?_**

A faint, mature voice was singing a very sweet tune. A lullaby. She was a soft singer who had a mid-ranged tone, yet she could beautifully reached those high notes. But it still sounded wonderful. Her soothing voice was like angels singing in a choir.

Was that Naori? It had to be her. She was the only other person here. Wow…he never knew that she was a singer. Normally, she would speak in a light and monotone voice with the occasional tone rises and drops on those special occasions. But this voice was different. It was gentle, relaxing and deeply mature. Was it her?

Hitsugaya strolled down the main hallway to the baby's room. He could clearly hear her voice drifting out through the door. His hand gripped onto the wooden frame and he slid it out.

**_When winter days become stormy nights_**

**_Will you still lie there?_**

The room was tainted in dark, the moonlight being the only source of light. It clearly illuminated the light brown crib in the corner of the small room. He could see a slight stir in those cozy blankets and some orange locks peeking out from the covers. Masaki slept in peaceful content. But she was not the only one. Off on the other side of the room, another sliver of light shone up at the ceiling from the floor. Walking a bit closer, he could clearly see a dark-blue cell phone. Naori's soul phone. What was interesting to note about this phone was that it was on and it was playing a recording of that voice singing a lullaby. Bummer. It's not her. At the very end, he could faintly hear some fumbling around and a "Good job Rukia!" from the speaker.

"Typical Naori. Always tricking people to do whatever you want", he sighed.

He looked around for a second, trying to find that subordinate. She, fortunately, was not far away. She was resting her head on their low table. Her resting face shone as she slept. All the lights were out, so the only source of light was the moon. Her usual dark-blue hair revealed strands of light blue highlights and her golden hair ornaments were sparkling. But yet, in all her sparkling beauty, this was a daily sight for Hitsugaya. He knew, from rumors, that she looked like a true sleeping beauty when asleep. He acknowledged and confirmed those rumors. But since Naori was always napping in his office, he grew used to her cute, little sleeping face. And from that, he won the jealousy and chagrin of those few lower officers that have seen and adored her sleeping face.

But that doesn't mean he hated it…

Hitsugaya went over to a nearby closet and pulled out a blanket. Carefully draping the soft blanket over her shoulders, he finally let his sleeping beauty have her rest.

**_My sweet child…_**

* * *

><p><em>I finally got around to updating this story. I'm almost done with school. Yay! So, I really like this fic, but it's not going to be a very long one. Bummer... But, I'm thinking of maybe doing a sequel if I feel like it. Any thoughts? <em>

_Read and Review as always!  
><em>


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"So Ichigo, how did your talk with Urahara and Captain Hitsugaya go?" Rukia sat down considerably close to her husband. She had been alone for some time now. Naori left her with only her reassuring words that Masaki was going to be fine. Ichigo, Hitsugaya, and Urahara were dragging out their little meeting for far too long. It was just Rukia in their little home, looking through baby pictures of Masaki.

"Fine." Ichigo swung an arm around his wife's comforting shoulders. "It went longer than I expected."

"What did you talk about?" Rukia questioned, staring up into Ichigo's amber eyes with her violet orbs.

"Ah well…" He scratched his chin on that thought. "We talked about Masaki and how she was doing, if Toushirou and Naori were taking good care of her. Urahara mentioned that we might need to make some minor adjustments in our plan, but he's glad we got somebody from Soul Society on our side."

"Mmm…that's good…" Rukia mumbled as she leaned her head on Ichigo's chest. "When do you think we can finally put that plan into action? And get Masaki back?"

"Soon…" He warmly smiled; threading his fingers through her soft, raven hair. "So, did Toushirou's new girlfriend say anything about Masaki?"

Rukia grinned at him, noting his orange hair. "Yeah. Naori also has trouble taking care of our little Masaki. She's in the same boat as you."

"Really? At least I'm not the only one suffering." Ichigo smirked.

"She also said to go dye your hair."

"What!" Ichigo exclaimed in disbelief. Did she immediately think he was a delinquent just by his hair? Why that brat! Even he thought Hitsugaya an obnoxious, little brat!

"Anyways…" Rukia quickly said to change the subject. "What exactly did Captain Hitsugaya say about Masaki?"

"Oh that! He said they were doing fine. Nothing major came up." Ichigo suddenly began to chuckle as the scene in his head played out further. "Then, Toushirou blurted out that he and Naori were living together. You should have seen his face! I've never seen such a icy boy burn so red in the face!"

"So you were teasing him?" Rukia raised her eyebrow on that one.

"More like giving adult suggestions."

"You were teasing him." Rukia sighed. "Remember, he _is_ a captain in Gotei 13 and in charge of Masaki. I don't want him to suddenly turn Masaki in because of _you_." She dug a finger into his chest for emphasis on that last word.

"With Naori by his side, I doubt it." Ichigo reassured his wife, hugging the petite woman closer. "You really should have seen his little red face. It was easy to figure out that he cares about her and probably has a little crush on her."

"And Naori cares about him and Masaki the most as well." Rukia commented, wrapping her arms around his.

_OoOoO_

"Wake up Crybaby!"

"Yes Captain!" Naori exclaimed, jumping at least a foot from the futon and landing uncomfortably on her butt. For him to be yelling urgently into her ear, this must be important! This must be an emergency! This must be…Hitsugaya entertaining Masaki. The young baby was giggling and clapping at Naori's clumsy wake up call. Her eyes were twinkling in glee and her orange hair was shining in radiance that moment. And Hitsugaya…he just looked like he invented a time machine or something just as stupid. "Captain! Why'd you do that?" Naori groaned, rubbing her pounding butt.

"I'm_ playing _with Masaki as you can see." He smirked, giving his hand to help her up.

"Jackass." She mumbled under her breath, standing up from his messy guest futon. She smoothed out the wrinkles of her dull blue sleeping kimono and tried to make her hair not look like an afro. She could feel the strands of her worn out kimono tickle her legs and clearly see some parts of her tan skin show through the thin cloth. Obviously, she didn't care. There were more important matters like… "Why are you not in the office?"

"I took a day off. Paperwork is done for today. Nothing important was scheduled." He glanced at Naori's half-asleep figure. "You need to buy a new sleeping kimono."

Naori yawned as she was brushing through her shoulder length, midnight blue hair. "I'll do that…eventually."

Masaki pouted at the indifferent shinigami girl before pointing out into the shopping districts of Seireitei. She spoke even more incoherent babbles that Naori ignored, but Hitsugaya seemed to recognize.

"She wants to buy new clothes."

"How is it that you can figure what the hell she is saying?" Naori asked, eyeing at her captain.

"It's easy if you figure out the context. Not that you ever pay attention." He scoffed.

"Well, I'm obviously not the genius here. And no." Naori glared out the window. "I'm not going to go shopping for clothes. It's a waste of my time."

Hitsugaya glanced back at Masaki, who looked like she was ready to burst out in tears. "I think Masaki won't take that too well."

"Too bad." Naori said, placing herself at eye level with Masaki.

Hitsugaya ruffled the growing orange locks on Masaki's head. "How about I play her for it? The winner gets to decide."

Masaki suddenly grinned back and giggled in glee.

_OoOoO_

"I can't believe I lost." Naori grumbled to herself.

The shinigami girl was sitting alongside her captain inside a clothing shop in the upper districts of Rukongai. Outside, there were some people shopping around, little kids playing games, and a couple of men lounging on their front porches and playing board games. The clothing shop inside though was filled to the brim with cloth, silk, textiles, prints, anything that could be made into clothes. There was so much that even the two young kids felt a little cramped.

Naori eventually got what Hitsugaya and Masaki were hinting at when they suggested going to buy clothes. Masaki had been here for a couple of months now and she desperately needed a new change of clothes. Naori just ruined her last sleeping kimono. That was fine. But she didn't want to come along. She just wanted to stay in his barracks and possibly sleep the whole day. But no, she was out here, disguised as Rukongai civilians to not attract attention or patrolling officers. She had to tie up her midnight hair and pull it into a loose bun while donning a simple brown kimono. But watching her captain play dress up was fun though. She had never seen him dress so informally in such a short, light green kimono. He really looked like a kid! One noticeable thing that was missing was their zanpakutos. Those had to unfortunately go. They wouldn't want to attract unneeded attention. So they wrapped up their zanpakutos into packages of cloth and carried those around instead. Very slick indeed.

"Would you stop moping around?" He rolled his eyes at her and she stuck her tongue back out at him.

"Ah young kids these days." The elderly shopkeeper sighed. "You remind me a lot of my son and his young friend back in the day. But that's another story. How may I help you?"

"Clothes. Her. Now." Naori curtly said. She held up the young baby on her lap in response.

"And her." Hitsguaya added on, pointing at Naori who glared back.

The shopkeeper nodded and headed back into the store. He came back with a huge bundle of clothing and set the entire pile right in the table in front of the two kids. He said something about taking their time before he disappeared back into the little shop.

Naori and Hitsugaya stared absentmindedly at the huge bundle of colorful clothes in front of them. Most of the clothes were kimonos and a good handful was haoris. Some had a lot of designs and some were plain. Some were very colorful and others were dark and dull. Masaki seemed to be enjoying her time as she crawled around the bundle and picked out the ones she liked. Naori…not so much…

"I thought I just needed a sleeping kimono." Naori asked in boredom as she fingered through each piece of clothing.

"Might as well get something for an event or Matsumoto." He shrugged and leaned back on his seat. "You really need a variety in your dressing style."

"I'm an officer. I'm in my uniform every day, every moment. There's no point." Naori scoffed. She held up a dark green kimono that had an intricate network of blue and red designs along the side. It was merely something random that she picked out.

"I don't think that's a sleeping garment." He pointed out.

"Of course, I'm not that stupid!" Naori exclaimed in embarrassment, slamming the kimono piece back into the table. She shoved that away quickly and randomly grabbed a maroon garment with billowing brown pants.

"That's not it either."

"Shut up!" Naori made another random grab, this time correctly getting a plain white kimono. "See! I know this one is used for sleeping."

"True. But you should get the other two. You'll look good in it." He remarked.

Naori scoffed at the idea. That would be ridiculous! She couldn't even imagine herself wearing clothes like that. Well…she could, but it would just be a hassle all together. If given clothes like those two, she'll just shove them into a closet and probably forget they even existed. If she were to ever wear them, somebody literally had to force her into them. That was where Matsumoto would come into play.

A sudden cry for their attention drove the two kids away from that subject. On the other side of the table, they could see Masaki playing with an icy blue kimono. Her nimble fingers were tightly clutching onto the kimono like she wanted this one the most of all. Naori walked over to that side and quickly fitted the young baby snugly into her new clothes. Masaki giggled in glee and clapped her hands together joyfully. She seemed pretty happy with her new clothes. She even looked cute in them too.

"Looks like Masaki made her choice. I guess we're done here." Naori lifted up Masaki. "Captain Hitsugaya. You pay."

"What? Wait!"

Naori smirked at him as she flash stepped far away, conveniently leaving all of her shopping material right in his hands.

"That conniving little…" Hitsugaya grumbled. Great. There goes another share of his paycheck. His officer was always a cheap person. Even when she matured and changed over the years, she was still like Matsumoto. Naori would always haggle money off of him like Matsumoto haggling work hours, paperwork, and sake on and off him. Them two were only pure trouble.

The young, blue haired girl tucked a stray strand of her bangs behind her ear while she lifted the beautifully dressed child. Masaki was simply gleaming in her new outfit. The blue matched very well with her bright orange hair and the small designs contributed to the overall cuteness. She certainly had good taste.

"Masaki-chan, where do you want to go next?" Naori asked, bouncing the baby gently.

"How about some place that doesn't drain my money." She heard an irritated voice grumbling behind her.

Naori turned around. "Captain Hitsugaya. So fast already!"

He merely sighed at the remark, "You only bought three things. At least you're not Matsumoto. She'll use it all in seconds."

"I see you accompany her on her shopping escapades." Naori grinned, earning a look of irritation and discontent from her captain. He briefly glared at her before looking away just as quick, but Naori merely ignored that and continued her attention on Masaki. "Masaki-chan. What do you want to do next? Walk around? Play a game? Visit grandma?"

"My grandmother is a bit far from here." He pointed out. "Let's just go back to my barracks."

"Masaki-chan's been cramped in there for many months now. She needs some fresh air for once."

"It's dangerous to have her out here in the open for too long." One of his eyes twitched at her stubborn behavior.

"It's already dangerous to have her here in general."

"Would you stop acting so stubborn and follow your captain's orders?" He was really getting close to yelling at her and dragging her back home.

"And would you take Masaki-chan's condition into account? Poor girl's been stuck inside for a few months now!" Naori spat back, her anger rising considerably.

"She's going to be stuck in a jail cell if we're out here any longer!"

"Well! Whose bright idea was it to bring her out in the first place?"

The two bickering teens glared at each other in the midst of their argument, completely ignoring Masaki in effect. Though the young infant didn't mind. This happened so frequently that it was easy to become accustomed to. She already had to deal with Ichigo and Rukia, this was just a slightly simmered down version of the usual. At times like this, the young infant would just focus her attention on something entirely different till the fight was over. But this time, she was looking at a young group of people. Rough people. Mostly men. Disgusting and filthy men.

"Hey!"

The shout drew Naori and Hitsugaya's attention away from each other and at the gang in front of them. Masaki whimpered and drew herself closer to Hitsugaya.

"Ya little kids got a lot of cash on ya. Look at those pretty, expensive clothes. It's dangerous for kids to be carrying around so much money. Why don't ya hand it over?" On of the men grinned and pulled out a hefty wooden plank.

Out of pure reflex, Hitsugaya made a grab for his wrapped up zanpakuto, only for Naori to reach out to stop him. She shook her head and nodded towards Masaki. Of course! The baby. What if Masaki were to accidentally get hurt during the fight? What if she were to get kidnapped? It was all too much of a risk. Naori and Hitsugaya glanced around at their surroundings, dismayed that they were surrounded everywhere. All of the locals had closed their doors and windows, not wanting any trouble to approach their premises. It was only two kids and a baby against a whole gang of ruffians.

Hitsugaya gently picked up the frightened baby clinging onto his leg and got off the porch to approach the whole mob. "I'll meet you back at my grandma's. Take care of things here." He ordered.

Naori dutifully nodded, unwrapping her zanpakuto.

Hitsugaya smirked and in a flash, he vanished into thin air. The only trace of his presence was an afterimage the trail of dust left behind by his nimble feet. Most men were awed and others were baffled. But some could already connect the numbers and see who he truly was. He was a Seireitei officer, and a very good one. Those that were smart enough to figure out that Naori was the same, sprinted away with their tails between their legs.

"Surprised?"

All of their attention reverted back at the brown kimono girl. She now held a sword in her right hand and she undid her bun. "You shouldn't be…because…" She vanished and reappeared in front of one of the gang members. "…I can do the same thing." Her pink lips chuckled as she brought her blade right at his bare neck. The poor guy only got a glimpse of her golden eyes before his sight was covered in black and a warm liquid traveled from the deep cut at his neck.

His body dropped towards the ground, dead and lifeless. The other men stood back from the pool of blood and backed up even further as Naori calmly walked towards them. "Just who do you think you're messing with?" She stated with a vicious tone. Her hand swept to the neckline of her kimono and quickly threw it off, revealing her usual black uniform underneath. The iconic uniform of a Seireitei officer, in which everybody knew very fondly of, was a warning sign to run for the hills.

"You're lucky it's not my captain dealing with you. He'd just knock out you guys." She dug the tip of her sword into the dirt. "But I kill people like you." With one swift movement, a wave of dirt flew into their faces with Naori's cheeky smile being evident in the negative spaces between.

_OoOoO_

"Toushirou! Masaki!" The old grandma exclaimed once she saw the young boy enter with a frightened child in his arms. "Oh my! Why does Masaki look like she's seen a hollow?"

"We ran into a little trouble back in shopping districts. Don't worry. I left Naori to handle it." He said, letting his grandma take hold of little Masaki.

She gently rocked the baby side to side, trying to get the child to stop whimpering. In a couple of minutes, Masaki gradually calmed down and was now sleeping soundly in her arms. After that, Hitsugaya's grandma glanced up at him with a questionable look. "You left that young girl all alone with a bunch of ruffians?"

He shrugged. "She looked pretty eager to fight. Besides…" He dropped his gaze from his grandmother. "…I know I can trust her."

"Toushirou! It doesn't matter." His grandmother scolded, wagging a finger at him. "You still left a young girl like her to do all the fighting. What have I been teaching you? What did you promise me that you would do for Momo?"

"Hinamori's different! She's family. Of course, I would always protect her!" He retorted back. "Naori…she's just my subordinate…"

His grandma took another questionable gaze at his face, watching his changing emotions and analyzing each facial expression he made. From that one look, she could deduce one thing. That girl was not _just_ a subordinate. "Toushirou." The grandma said, placing an arm around her grandson.

"What is it?" Hitsugaya asked, confused.

"I know that you can never trick your old Granny." The grandma stated, feeling her own grandson freeze up under her arm. "She's not just a subordinate to you. She's something more. She could be like family except she's not. But she's someone you would treasure enough to protect. Maybe even more so than Momo."

"Don-Don't be ridiculous!" Hitsugaya stuttered, shaking his head.

His grandmother only sighed at his flustered reaction. "It's all right Toushirou. You're still a young, growing boy. Youngsters like you wouldn't recognize these things." She affectionately ruffled his head.

"Granny…" The young captain mumbled out in embarrassment, hiding away his slightly blushing cheeks.

The grandma only smiled at her blushing grandson and continued patting him on the head. It was one of those rare times that he pulled away his icy persona to become the loving grandson she raised. And he still looked so cute doing that.

Hitsugaya almost cracked a small smile at his grandma, but he heard a distant step, which promptly turned his attention away. Far off in the distance, he spotted a dark clothed figure walking back at odd angles. She seemed to take a step fine, but had to limp weirdly on the second step. Once she got closer, he could recognize those familiar golden eyes and the shining midnight blue hair. But he ignored that for something else more jarring. Her left cheek was turning into a weird shade of purple and blue. There were scuff marks all over her face and her clothes. Her arms were even caked in mud, dirt, and grass.

"Naori!" Hitsugaya exclaimed, quickly flash stepping over to her side. Seeing the state Naori was in, she could collapse at any second. Anybody would have been worried. Luckily, she was remaining perfectly upright at the moment.

"Captain Hitsugaya." Naori replied, slightly confused. Her eyes traveled past her worried captain and to the old woman. "Hello Captain Hitsugaya's grandmother."

"Naori! Are you okay? What happen?" A whole lot of random questions flew right out of his mouth.

Naori gave another questionable look at her captain. Why was he acting so weird? So she came back a little dirty, but why would he care? "I'm fine." She said, brushing away a lot of dirt from her sleeve.

"How did you get so…?"

"Dirty? Messy?" Naori completed with a sigh. "I don't know. I only killed like three people and I thought everyone else ran away. But no, they came back with a whole lot more people than I expected. The next thing I knew, I was a one-man army fighting all alone. Ack!" She winced at the last word, feeling the needle-like pain of her bruised cheek. "Anyways I had to lure them all into the twenties districts. I didn't want to cause a ruckus so close to Seireitei. Sorry for being so late."

"Oh dear! Would you like some medicine for your cheek?" Hitsugaya's grandma offered and quickly went back into the household to get some cream.

"Oh yeah…that…" Naori muttered, still nursing her bruised cheek. "Hey Captain Hitsugaya. Can you make some ice packs for me?"

He reached out and briefly touched her left cheek, making Naori cringe in pain. "How did you get injured so easily?"

"I left an opening and got a big punch to the cheek. Fell a couple feet back. Splashed into some mud, dirt and I think I hit a tree at the end. But I'm fine." Naori sighed, keeping his hand placed firmly on her cheek, letting that cool sensation settle. Just his touch was enough for her.

He watched her tired face smile in relief and her tense figure slump comfortably. Just from the scuff marks and her dirtied body, he could tell she had a rough time. 'Hey Naori." She looked up at him in curiosity. "I'm sorry I left you out there by yourself. Next time, just call for me and I'll come help you."

"Captain Hitsugaya… Wha-What are you apologizing for?" Naori softly replied. "I was just following your orders."

"In any case…" He quickly turned away from her. Sometimes, it was a good thing that Naori was such a clueless dolt that she couldn't see through his behavior or his red face. "If you feel like you're in trouble, just say my name and I'll be there for you. Okay?"

Naori nodded. Her captain began to quickly walk away with her following closely. "Hey Captain Hitsugaya! I change my mind. Let's just go back to your barracks."

_OoOoO_

Where was she?

The snowy haired captain had told his subordinate to put the baby to bed, but when he checked the little room, neither of them were in there. Strange… It was unlike Naori to be disobeying orders. Hitsugaya quickly shuffled about his home, checking every room for any sight of the two females. So far…no luck. Soon, he figured out that they weren't in any of the rooms except for one more. His bedroom.

Hitsugaya went back into the hallways and quietly walked over to the door of his bedroom. Swiftly, the door slid open without a single creak or slam. Right there, in front of his eyes, was the baby and the babysitter sleeping peacefully in _his_ futon. Damn…he really should have remembered to put that away. Great…now, he has to sleep on the other futon, the one that always felt slightly uncomfortable. Hitsugaya sighed in discontent, turning away to shut the sliding door and let the worn out girl sleep. Before leaving, he took a quick glance at the back door of his room. It was still open. A chill could come in any moment. He should close it. The young boy walked up to his back door and silently closed it.

When he turned back around, Naori's face was gleaming from the moonlight leaking in through the screen. Her bruised, purple cheek was the only dull part in her glowing face. Everything else of her was glowing like fireflies in the middle of the night. (Well…she _had_ electricity-based spiritual pressure to begin with, maybe that's why.) She had a really long day today, especially after that fight. No wonder she collapsed so fast into the nearest possible bed. The young girl nestled comfortably into his bed with the Masaki sleeping equally comfortable beside her. She breathed long drags of air as she was sleeping and her once tensed eyes were relaxing ever so slightly.

The sight of Naori sleeping made him want to quickly get out of that room. Why? Why did she have to look so cute asleep?

He noticed that the blankets only covered the lower half of her body and not even Masaki at all. Such a clueless girl, she didn't even think about the possibility of catching a cold. He bent down beside her and drew up the blankets up to her chest. The blue-haired girl stirred slightly from the motion but didn't wake up. A small smile appeared on her lips and she snuggled in further, relishing the sudden warmth. He smirked at her sleeping expressions and lied down beside her with Masaki in between them. Neither girls seemed to stir when his presence was close by; in fact, Naori seemed to not even mind at all. He silently watched over the two sleeping girls until he slowly drifted off into sleep himself.

He could get used to this…

_OoOoO_

The stern captain slid his ink-filled brush across a dotted line, neatly signing his name. Underneath that sandy yellow sheet were a bunch more and they were probably written about the same thing. The captain shed no annoyance or felt tired as he signed page after page after page. Suddenly, a door opened and his eyes flickered towards the newcomer.

"Captain Kuchiki." The person said, kneeling down.

"Yes Lieutenant Abarai?" Byakuya asked.

Renji quickly stood up from his kneeling position and boldly spoke, "I have something to say. It's about Rukia and Ichigo."

* * *

><p><em>Ah cliffhanger! We have a rat in the story now. The kid couple moments are so cute. I squeal, myself, as I write them. So cute! It's going to get so much better soon. Review as always cause I'm not getting much!<em>


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Stupid bastard!" Naori yelled.

"Why are you yelling at me? It's your fault!" Hitsugaya spat back.

"How's it my fault? You started everything!" At that moment, she wanted to pull out her own hair.

"Oh! So everything is my fault now! If it wasn't for your clumsiness, this would have never happened!"

"See! You're always blaming everything on me!" The angered girl yelled back as she fisted the neckline of his uniform. "Just because I'm not a prodigy doesn't mean that I'm a clueless dimwit! You are so full of yourself, you know!"

"How am I full of myself when I'm just stating the truth?" He spat back at full force, slapping her hand away to drop him.

"Just because I'm slow doesn't make me a complete moron! You're such an arrogant asshole!" Naori continued to yell. "I'm so sick of being your scapegoat for all your screw ups! For once! Can't you just admit you're wrong?"

"And for once! Can you stop making such a big deal over such little things? I hate your prissy attitude!"

"It's _not_ a little thing to _me_!" Water rose up to her eyes. "I hate your arrogant, one-sided, ignorant attitude!"

"You're one of the most troublesome subordinates I've ever had!"

"You're the worst captain ever! I should have stayed with Captain Unohana!"

"I wish you did!"

"I HATE YOU!"

Both of the young teenagers glared at each other, eye-to-eye, neck at neck. They were so concentrated in their heated argument that the baby girl was lying on the floor, forgotten. Masaki's forehead had a bruise and a bump on the side and there was a slight trickle of blood, but luckily, not a lot. She was crying. They didn't care. They were too busy fighting to care.

Luckily, Naori was the taller one of them, so she only had to glare down and not strain her neck. Sparks of yellow were flying out from the corners of her golden eyes and her hair was already frizzing up from the electrical discharges. Her sweaty fists were balled up at her sides. She was baring her teeth in an unfeminine way, not that she cared in the first place. Her spiritual pressure was dangerously skyrocketing at this moment. She could just tap one single piece of wire and she could power a whole city for days. There wasn't any of that, so all her electricity ended up heating the room to a very dangerous temperature.

But then, there was Hitsugaya to negate her effects with his vast amounts of icy spiritual pressure. A single breath of air could make a frozen balloon if he tried. His cold spiritual pressure cooled everything down so much that it was almost like a temperature battle in the room. Hitsugaya was equally just as mad as her for those unknown reasons. Maybe, by now, he would have forgotten what got them to argue in the first place. That didn't matter. At times like these, all that mattered was to win the fight and prove her wrong. For once, this was the time that his childish side showed. For once, he just wanted to win for the sake of winning. He wanted to win over her.

"Drop dead!"

"Go die already!"

"Captain! Naori-chan!" Matsumoto suddenly greeted in the heat of the argument. "I finished! Can I…oh…" She momentarily paused and stopped completely after witnessing the situation at hand.

Naori and Hitsugaya each glared at each other one last time before flash stepping away, leaving no trace of each other's presence. Matsumoto stayed standing there, confused, puzzled, trying her best to recollect what just happened.

"Matsumoto!" He suddenly came back, appearing behind her.

"Yes Captain!"

"You're the babysitter. Heal her up!" He quickly ordered. He disappeared after that single command, not wishing to talk nor remain in this premise.

Matsumoto sighed, rubbed her temples for a moment, and gently picked up the once forgotten baby.

_OoOoO_

"Lieutenant Hinamori! I seriously don't know how you dealt with him! He's such an infuriating, stupid, arrogant, little midget!" Naori groaned, nearly half-yelling into the poor girl's ears. She wrapped her arms around a soft pillow and squeezed tight, thinking that the soft fabric was really the skin on his neck.

"Naori-chan. I think you're overreacting. He always says stuff like that." Hinamori placed down her brush into the inkbottle, turned towards the angered young girl, and knowingly placed her hands on her hips. "And what did I say about you calling me that? You know that's not my position anymore. I resigned ages ago."

"Ah right…Hinamori-san…" Naori mumbled out, hiding her blushing face. "Did I interrupt your study time?"

Hinamori smiled. "No. It's good to have some company around every once in a while."

She rolled up her scrolls and gently pushed them aside. Within those scrolls were instructions and steps about kido training, and she had tasked herself into memorizing and perfecting her knowledge of each. She wanted to be an instructor at the Academy now and for that, she needed to study hard everyday. After recovering from the wars and serving a couple more years alone and captain-less, she finally resigned to pursue a new field that suited her interest and abilities. She wanted to be a teacher and help with developing the newer generations of shinigami's, especially in the field of kido.

Naori watched as Hinamori cleaned up her study area, glancing at every sheet of paper she was handling. That reminded her of paperwork. When Hinamori resigned, the Fifth Division was left without a captain and a lieutenant. No preparations were really made to replace these spots, so their Third Seat decided to step up into leadership while Hitsugaya took over all of their office duties. This meant a whole lot more paperwork, a whole new reason for Matsumoto to skip out on work and a whole lot of forging for Naori.

"How much more studying do you have left?" Naori asked.

"A couple more years at the most." Hinamori replied. "I can't wait till I finally start teaching! I miss my academy days!"

Naori smirked back, "I never had them. Thank goodness I didn't waste six years sitting in a desk."

"And because of that, you never learned how to fight properly. Hitsugaya-kun had to train you about all that." Hinamori countered back, playfully poking her junior in the forehead.

Naori scowled, rubbed her forehead, and turned away. "Don't even talk about that jerk of a captain in front of me!"

"Right. You guys had a fight." Hinamori could only chuckle at the thought. "Don't worry. He always says that kind of stuff to me. He never really means it though."

"But he's insulting me every single day. I'm getting really sick of it." Naori huffed.

"You're just exaggerating." Hinamori smirked again, finding Naori's situation a bit humorous. "You know what I learned about Hitsugaya-kun from Granny? He's actually one of those boys who like to tease girls they like. You can't really tell by looking though."

"Impossible. And you know what else he is? One of those boys who hold long grudges! Remember all that paperwork he made me do just because I didn't call him 'Captain'!" Naori exclaimed. She slammed her tea angrily into the table, making a huge mess everywhere.

"Well…he's sensitive about that. You should know better." Hinamori pointed out. "Any do you know what I think right now? I think you like Hitsugaya-kun!"

Naori promptly spat out her tea in surprise. "R-R-Ridiculous! Lieutenant Hinamori! Why would you ever think that? He's my captain for god's sake! I would never like a captain like that!"

"I'm not a lieutenant anymore." Hinamori corrected. "How would I know? Because I can tell when you have a crush on someone. Didn't you use to have a little crush on me?"

Naori grumbled under her breath in embarrassment, "It's admiration…not crush… "

True, she had sort of an idolization towards Hinamori when she got reassigned to Division Ten. It was like a Soifon-to-Yoruichi admiration except not so lesbian-like and obsessive. She thought of Hinamori as a good role model for her division members, in contrast of her midget captain of course. Back then, her interactions with Hinamori were like the highlights of her day and she would always look forward to seeing Hinamori again. Naori would remember how worried she would get along with her captain whenever Hinamori got into any trouble. She even thought about moving to the Fifth Division. That was long ago though. She was young and crazy all the same.

But today, she still held a high respect for Hinamori, even after everything that happened. Maybe that was why she still called Hinamori a lieutenant.

"In any case, I can still tell. Don't worry! Your little name-calling fight with him will blow over soon." Hinamori said with smiles and Naori only smirked back. "Hey? Do you want to know a secret about Hitsugaya-kun?"

"What?"

"So, you know how you had a crush—"

"High respect. Not crush. High respect." Naori quickly cut in, turning away her red-cheeked face.

"Okay, that, so Hitsugaya-kun noticed about that and he talked to me about it. You know what he said?" Hinamori took a deep breath. "He said that even though you seemed so enthusiastic about switching divisions, he was still going to keep you. He won't let you transfer out or anything. And do you know why? He said…" Hinamori took a deep breath.

"I need her."

When she heard those words, Naori could hear his deep voice mix in with Hinamori's soft squeals. Sure…there was that slight possibility that he really said that and meant it, but after being his personal typewriter, she highly doubted it.

"And do you know why?" Naori scoffed, "Because paperwork's not going to get itself done!"

_OoOoO_

"Shiro-chan!" A sickly man shouted out in joy, leaping up from his bed. He quickly ran up to the young captain, capturing him in a tight hug. "It's so nice for you to visit! You must be hungry! I got oodles and oodles of snacks just for you!"

"Captain Ukitake!" Hitsugaya exclaimed in surprise, shoving the older man off of him. "Shouldn't you be sick, asleep, barely moving?"

"Oh that? It's nothing serious." Ukitake laughed…then coughed.

Hitsugaya merely rolled his eyes at the blatant lies. Of course, Ukitake was still sickly as ever, but would he ever show that in public? No. Truthfully, he didn't want to disrupt Ukitake's resting period, but he couldn't find anyone else to turn to.

"Ukitake. I have something to discuss with you."

"Yes Shiro-chan?" Ukitake chuckled, finally retreating onto a cushion seat on the floor.

"We're both captains. Let's be a little more courteous." Hitsugaya groaned at the nickname. Really now…he was not in the mood to be called his nickname after all that name-calling earlier. The snowy-haired captain sat down in the seat in front of the other captain.

"Right, Captain Hitsugaya. So what do you want to discuss?" Ukitake gently smiled. "Something about a baby?"

"What?" His turquoise eyes lit up in surprise. "You already know? How?"

The sickly man merely chuckled. "I'm her captain. Of course, I would know. In fact, I was one of the first people she told." Ukitake quickly lowered his voice into a whisper. "When Rukia was six weeks pregnant, she tried to haggle a couple months vacation time from me. That was when I found out. Knowing her predicament, I relieved her from work and stationed her back into Karakura Town. She actually wouldn't have gotten this far without me."

"You know you are breaking the law. Why would you do that?" Hitsugaya questioned.

"She's an officer in my division. Of course, I would help out any officer in my division." Ukitake replied, but his eyes narrowed at the young captain. "The question is: why would you help her by taking care of her baby?"

Hitsugaya scoffed at the question. "She got my grandma involved and got me involved…"His eyes suddenly widened, as if he caught it by now. "Wait! How did you find out it was me?"

"You look even more tired nowadays. Fifth Seat Naori Hibana is missing. You haven't been in the office after work hours. I put pieces like that together and solved it out." Ukitake shrugged. "So, how's the baby? I never knew her name. Rukia didn't pick one out when she visited me."

"Masaki Kurosaki." He replied. "The reason Naori's been missing is because she's been taking care of the baby." He felt his voice cringe at the pronunciation of her name. With what just happened earlier, he really didn't want to be reminded about her.

"Ah…so you're both taking care of her…" Ukitake suddenly smiled. "Looks like our Shiro-chan's finally growing up!"

"Shut up. And don't talk about her." He muttered in disgust.

Ukitake stopped all the smiles and giggles once he witnessed the pained expression on the young captain. It was really rare to see this grumpy captain act so troubled and depressed all of a sudden. Unless if it involved Hinamori…but she's been doing quite well recently. Maybe it was Naori Hibana that was having this effect on him? He didn't want to talk about her to begin with.

"Did something happen?"

"It's nothing serious." He quickly replied in a clipped manner.

"If it were nothing serious, then why would you be sulking about it right now?"

"I'm not sulking."

"Come on Shiro-chan. I know you always look grumpy, but looking sulky is _completely_ different." Ukitake proudly proclaimed, watching the irked expression on Hitsugaya's face. "So…is it something about your little Fifth Seat?"

"What exactly makes you think it's her?" He grumbled, eyeing the sickly captain.

"I'm one of your closest comrades. Aren't we Shiro-chans?" Hitsugaya had to groan at the mention of his nickname. "I would know when you are crushing on someone."

"You're being ridiculous. Why would I ever like a stupid, uncute, melodramatic girl like her? " He muttered his denial.

"I can think of a lot of reasons." Ukitake glanced up at the ceiling in thought. "You're always with her. You like it when she's in the office with you. You grew pretty accustomed to having her around. Even you think she's a sleeping angel. When she cries, you either get really mad or…"

He thought about things quite a bit as Ukitake was listing his reasons. Okay…maybe most of them were true, but that proved nothing. So, he thought Naori was cute when she's not her usual, bland self. But she was too aggressive for him and she overreacted a lot. He would never like a girl like that…could he?

"There are also a lot of reasons I don't like her." He started to list them out with his fingertips. "First, she's lazy and I have to force her to work. Second, she's tricky and mischievous. Third, she's way too aggressive. Like this morning, I just said some things about her and she ended up blowing everything out of proportion."

"Oh really? You called her names and then, you guys had a fight." Ukitake frowned. "Didn't you already learn from past experiences? Remember that hysterical episode Naori went through?"

Hitsugaya shuddered at that thought. Flashing images of a bloodied Naori and her widened eyes ran through his head. There was that one time where she snapped and tried to kill off a human. Luckily, he was able to restrain her and a couple day's rest brought her back to normal. That day was one of the scariest days in his life. After that mission, he would always keep a tight watch on his subordinate. So far, she really calmed down afterwards and she probably pushed the whole ordeal in the back of her head. Hitsugaya never did.

"Little Naori is a very sensitive person. You should have realized that by now." Ukitake sighed, placing a reassuring hand on Hitsugaya. "What you may have thought was harmless teasing, she would take it as a direct insult. Everything you said could hurt her a lot. I'm surprised she hasn't snapped earlier. She was probably holding it all in because she didn't want to trouble you."

The young captain significantly quieted down after hearing that one phrase. Was that what Naori truly felt? Was she really hurt on the inside? Was he the true culprit?

"I have to go." Hitsugaya suddenly said, standing up. "Thank you. You were a great help Ukitake."

"Pleasure to be of assistance." The sickly man nodded. "Is there anything else?"

Hitsugaya stopped suddenly in his tracks. He almost forgot! Obviously, he didn't come all the way over here to talk about Naori. The conversation sort of drifted to her. "Do you know when the system upgrades are going to take place?"

"A couple of days from now." Ukitake replied.

"Good."

_OoOoO_

The trouble captain mindlessly walked back to his barracks. He had stopped by the office to mull over some things. He also stopped by other divisions to talk with other captains. Basically, he wanted to kill off time enough so he wouldn't be accidentally bumping into her any time soon. But then again, they were living _together_, so the chances of them meeting again were inevitable. Maybe…just maybe…if everything worked out all right tonight, they could put all of this behind them and laugh in the future. Maybe…

Hitsugaya groaned, raking his fingers through his head in pure frustration. His barracks were coming in sight, but he couldn't advance any further. He couldn't take another step. Thus, he found a nearby bench and sat there to gaze up at the night sky.

Sitting alone there, he reminisced all their little moments together. He thought of those days where he would find her sleeping and take care of her sleeping form, those days where she and him would kid around, those days where he would protect her from danger, her smile, her tears, her aggravation…her. At times, he would think of her as a nuisance and others, a helpful person at the time. She was always there to do paperwork, heal his wounds, and take the brunt of his irritation. She was there for him.

And what did he do? Taunt her. Ridicule her. Slam her with a couple months work of papers. But she never complained…okay, she did…a lot. But she always ended up following his orders eventually. She would even tease him back, meaning no harm. He would tease her even more; just to see what reaction she would have next. He never expected that their little game would hit a dead end. He didn't know that she would get so upset at him for always being ridiculed. She did quite a neat job of hiding away her feelings. He could imagine tears running down her cheeks as he said those hateful words at her. Damn. He hated it when Naori cried. He never learned how to handle crying people and Naori cried a lot. Whenever she cried and it was because of someone else, his first instinct would be to find that person, mutilate him, and bring him back on a silver platter of apology.

Yet, why would he care so much? Why was she on his mind so much these days? Why was he always worried about her? What was she to him now?

She was one of the most important people in his life. She was one of his treasured subordinates. She was a comrade. A companion. A friend. That was a typical subordinate-to-captain relationship, but she…she was different. To him, she was everything now. What was this called? Crush? Feelings? Love? Even that was a bit too forward for him. It was hard for him to believe. He doubted something like that could be possible. But it was true now that he knew clearly.

He loved her.

But would he say it out loud? No…not now…

"Captain Hitsugaya?" That dreaded person stood only a couple meters away. Her golden eyes twinkled in the nearby candlelight and a breeze was sweeping through her hair. Her clothes seemed to float on her as the wind drew by. Naori stepped closer and he quickly cut the eye-to-eye connection. She didn't seem to care as she sat down next to him. "So…I talked to Hinamori about…you know…that. She scolded me. And she told me to apologize. So…" She stuck out a hand. "Let's shake hands and call it a thing of the past. Even though I _really_ think that this is your fault, I'm willing to forget about it all. Truce?"

"My fault?" His anger flared up again just like that and those previous epiphanies vanished in thin air. Besides, how was that an apology? She merely wanted to avoid an apology altogether!

"Well it certainly is. I was willing to clean up the mess I made, but you had to go and make like twenty insults! Don't you know how I feel about that?" She exclaimed.

"I know, you feel like you don't want to admit your mistakes."

"I just did! I caused this whole mess. You're the one who had to turn it into an argument! Ugh! I don't know why I'm arguing to you about the same subject. You know what? This was a mistake. I never should have tried to apologize in the first place!" Naori spat back. Electricity was starting to fly out of every corner of her body. Her eyes were glowing an eerie shade of yellow and her barrettes were glowing and sparking as well.

"Maybe you should have thought about apologizing before actually apologizing? But knowing you, that would have flown over your head." He scoffed.

But right as he said those words, a blade swept by his face and he had to flash step out of the imminent danger. An explosion of yellow electricity annihilated that poor wooden bench and left only a lone plank. A very pissed off girl stood behind the plank and once she walked by, a plague came out of her and decimated what was left of the bench. Her sword was fully activated, tassels and all. Her golden eyes were narrowed. Her hair was already sparking in electricity. Okay…maybe that last comment was taking it a bit too far…

He felt a sudden rise in spiritual pressure. Her dark figure lunge at him, her sword was drawn out for a deadly strike. Instinctively, he drew out his sword as well to block the attack.

"Naori-chan! Captain! What are you doing?" A worried Matsumoto suddenly yelled from his barracks.

"Sparring!" Both teens yelled back.

"Oh. Okay! Be quiet about it! We're trying to sleep!" Matsumoto closed the windows.

"Let's take this somewhere else." Hitsugaya suggested. He didn't give her any time to answer or reply. He charged right at her, took her by the waist, and quickly carried her to training grounds far beyond Seireitei. When he dropped her off, she looked like she landed weirdly on her feet, but she quickly recovered and stood ready to face him. He merely sighed at her childish behavior and drew out his sword. "If you want to fight me because you're pissed, then so be it. But I'm not holding back." If they couldn't resolve this through words, then maybe they could do it by combat.

She didn't say much back. She just gave another golden glare and pointed her sword at him. "Strike, Denbaku-to!"

"Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyourinmaru!" He stood ready for the lightening bolt to strike. A wall of ice protected him well and negated all the effects into the ground below.

Naori growled and raised her sword again. "Denkiha!" She shouted, swinging her sword at an arc. A huge wave of her golden electricity flew out instead of little shards of lightening. This wave flew at full force, frying up any thing it passed through.

Once again, Hitsugaya seemed completely unfazed and he conjured up another ice wall to take in all that energy and damage for him. "Neat trick. But not good enough." He commented. His free hand grabbed onto the chain and threw it at her sword, wrapping it and pulling it out of her grasp. With only three quick maneuvers, he got her sword to fly a few meters away from her. This was no surprise. He didn't expect for her to beat him in the first place. But this was a good way for her to let off some steam.

Naori's eyes boggled out in surprise as she stared at him, flabbergasted. Here she was initiating a fight, only to be beaten in no more than two moves. She threw the first punch and was left knocked down. How could she face him now?

Hitsugaya calmly walked over to her. Now that all the anger was fought out nicely, maybe they could have a cordial talk to get this affair settled once and for all. She felt his presence coming forward and unconsciously; she started to move to him as well. But suddenly, a sharp pain rose up from her foot like a knife had drove deep into her ankle. A light gasp escaped from her throat and she felt her whole body fall forward into the dew grass.

"Naori!" Hitsugaya quickly caught her in his arms, tightly holding her now shivering body.

"Captain…" Tightly, she held onto his arm and looked up at his worried face. "Why-why are…you…?" In that sudden instance, her lips curled up. Her eyes closed. Her fist covered her mouth. A chuckle escaped in little breaths followed by continuous laughter. He was staring at her, looking puzzled at her behavior and thinking she was crazy. But, the feeling of her laugh held no animosity at all. She looked like she felt this entire situation was funny.

"Naori…" He smiled, lessening his hold on her until she was resting against his arms.

"Hey Captain? What were we fighting about again?" She asked between chuckles. "Gosh! I was so pissed off at you that I forgot what happened."

"Typical Naori. Always trying to avoid the subject." He smirked.

"Oh…" Her light and airy behavior became a stone dropping down into the water. "So I was still found out… Okay, you win. Go ahead. Say how much of an airhead I am. Say how everything's my fault. Say…"

"I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened and her jaw literally formed a perfect circle. Her arms, which were previously wrapped at her chest, undid themselves to fall onto her captain's arm. "What was that? Say that again?" She whispered.

He stared back, puzzled at her behavior. "I'm sorry. Sorry for calling you names. Sorry for yelling at you. Sorry for…what else is there to be sorry for?"

Naori snorted, turning away. "I don't believe you. You say this kind of stuff for everything."

"What if this time, it's true?"

"I still won't believe you."

Hitsugaya sighed in frustration. "Do you want us to resort to playing that game?" He held up a fist, ready to make a move.

"Fine." Naori held up her fist as well.

"Rock paper scissors!"

Naori golden eyes dropped at the sight of her rock being beaten by Hitsugaya's paper. Her teeth bit into her lips of frustration. She quickly ducked her head, letting her dark blue bangs hide her ashamed face. What was there to do? She got nothing now. She lost everything, her argument stance, her match, and this game. She dreaded the taunting and teasing that would come.

That never happened.

His paper flew out and captured her rock, like a usual game of rock, paper, scissor, except he pulled her towards him. She felt her chest make contact with his. Her hand that played rock was pulled out far behind him and his other hand had encircled her waist. She was like a mouse being captured by a trap except there was no pain. There was a slight ache on her arm coming from the hard jerk of when he pulled her, but that was it. There was no pain, no ache, and no irritation.

The only thing she felt was his soft lips pressed against her closed mouth. She felt him push her even closer towards him, deepening the touch. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. Her golden eyes were widening in shock. Her face turned into a red cherry. One of her hands gripped onto his clothes, anxiously bunching up the cloth into her fist. The other just fell limp to her side. Even without Hyourinmaru, he had her frozen in place and melting at the same time.

What was this? A kiss?

_OoOoO_

The two teens silently walked back into the Tenth Division. After some very complicated arguing and other complicated matters, both had adamantly agreed to forget this entire match ever happened. That definitely did not seem possible seeing how red both of them were turning.

"Captain Hitsugaya?" Naori asked, not even looking.

"Yeah…" He also did not look at her.

"I'm sorry for dropping Masaki-chan on her head."

"Apology accepted."

* * *

><p><em>Yes! I finally made them kiss! After two years, since Naori Hibana debuted onto fanfiction, they finally kiss. I was originally going to do this in my previous story, "All Over Now", but I decided against it because she was using a kiss to gather information…you know…that memory swap thing…and there were basically no feelings attached. Plus they were young and it didn't feel right. But this one is cuter! There are too many cute moments in this one, especially our little captain's love epiphany, which took a long damn time to write. They might have sounded a bit OOC during arguing. And Masaki wasn't really in this one a lot. I apologize for that. Yes, that whole argument and day fight was over Naori dropping Masaki on her head.<em>

_Read and review!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

It was the day when the secret would be let out. And no one could stop it.

It was just a normal day for the young pseudo-family. All prior incidents had been long forgotten by Naori and Hitsugaya. They were only enjoying each other's presence as they continued with their daily work. Naori was busy taking care of Masaki, who only had eyes for Hitsugaya, who was busy doing the usual paperwork. That was the usual schedule of the day…except for today.

Tears welled up in Masaki's chestnut eyes and a sniffle came out. Her pouting lips trembled and she was shaking. Naori tried her best to appease the young girl, but she ultimately did nothing to help. Even Hitsugaya took some time out of paperwork to help his struggling subordinate. Alas, even he couldn't figure out what was wrong with the young baby.

"Ma…Da…" Masaki whimpered in her soft cries.

"Is she homesick already?" Naori questioned, gently rocking the young baby.

"I think she wants to see her parents." Hitsugaya answered back.

"Really? Do you miss Mommy and Daddy?" Naori asked, only to be answered with a really loud cry. "I'll take that as a 'yes'. Captain?"

"No." He flatly rejected.

"But-"

"No."

"Look at the poor thing. She's crying!" Naori exclaimed, holding out Masaki.

"No still means no! It's too dangerous." Hitsugaya turned away, ignoring her pleas.

Naori sighed, knowing full well that her captain's mind cannot be changed. "Sorry Masaki-chan, I guess you can't see Ichigo and Rukia yet."

_OoOoO_

"Captain Hitsugaya's going to kill me. Seriously. If he only agreed, then I won't have to do all this sneaking around business." Naori muttered. She jumped off the Senkaimon and gracefully landed onto the sandy ground. Masaki peacefully snuggled in the blankets of her arms, unaware of the sudden change of scenery. Naori walked around the dry training ground, checking her soul phone once every couple of minutes. "Strange…where are they?" She said.

His chestnut eyes scanned around once he and his wife landed on the terrain. He couldn't spot the young, dark blue haired girl anywhere. They had received a phone call from Naori asking to meet up under Urahara's Shop. She didn't specify why. She only urged them to come quickly.

Rukia also looked around. Finally, she spotted a young girl from around the corner of a rock. "Naori!" She yelled, waving for her attention.

"Rukia-san! Ichigo-san!" Naori quickly ran to them, Masaki in hand.

"Masaki! My baby!" Rukia quickly grabbed the baby, hugging her close. Tears fell out of the mother's eyes as she held tightly onto her young baby.

Young Masaki also felt this new presence and she opened her eyes, waking up from her nap. Delighted, the baby yelled and made high-pitched screeches of happiness, hugging her mother back. The orange-haired father placed his hand on Rukia's back and another on his young daughter, tenderly hugging them. They were such a cute and heartwarming family that Naori was _almost_ brought near tears.

"Naori." Ichigo suddenly said, snapping Naori back to his attention. "Why'd you bring her back? Did Soul Society finally decide to leave Masaki in peace?"

"No. Masaki-chan was getting homesick so I snuck over here." Naori reported.

"Well, I'd expect her to be. Today is her birthday. She's turning one." Rukia replied. "You're so smart!" She cooed, tickling little Masaki.

"What a shame. To be celebrating her birthday in hiding." Naori dryly remarked.

"It can't be helped." Ichigo responded.

"But still… We're grateful you managed to bring her back to us." Rukia thanked the young girl.

"It was nothing…" Naori muttered back, embarrassed at all of the gratitude. "It was pretty difficult getting her here. My captain was really against it."

"Toushirou? I'd imagine he'd be. By the way, why hasn't he searched you out yet?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't know." Naori shrugged. "He should be freaking out by now and sending out search parties or something…"

_OoOoO_

"Captain! Can I have tonight off? I want to go drinking!"

"No!" Hitsugaya slammed his brush into his inkbottle. "Look at all this paperwork you have! Now get your butt to your desk and start working!"

"Captaaaiin!" Matsumoto whined.

A vein popped in the corner of his forehead. "No means no! There's so much paperwork and I'm not finishing it all! And Naori's not here too so you _have_ to do it!"

Matsumoto quickly stopped her whiny act. "Naori-chan? That reminds me. Where is she and Masaki-chan? I couldn't find them in your barracks. And I wanted to play with Masaki-chan so much!"

Hitsugaya sighed, "They probably snuck off to the world of the living."

"Captain! Isn't that dangerous? Why aren't you running after them? They could seriously get in big trouble…" Matsumoto stalled on the last sentence when she saw the look on his face that said: Are you that stupid? Do you know what day it is today? "Oh that's right! Today's system upgrade day."

"Yes. Everybody from Soul Society is patrolling in the world of the living to make up for the downed system. That's why half of our division's not here. That's why there's more paperwork than usual. That's why you should be working. Now take out a brush and start filling out these sheets." He grabbed a bunch of her share and handed them out, only to see she was missing.

"MATSUMOTOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Hmph! Captain Hitsugaya needs to learn how to take break." Matsumoto remarked at her captain's irritated reaction. "I wonder though…does Naori-chan know how long the upgrade is going to take?"

_OoOoO_

"Masaki. Say 'ahh…'" Rukia spooned rice into young Masaki's open mouth.

The couple laid out a nice picnic blanket in the barren desert land. The blanket was red plaid. All sorts of picnic foods were on the blanket. Light sandwiches, orange juice, lemonade, salad, barbecued meat, and of course, a round shaped birthday cake right in the center. Naori sat on the edge, munching on a sandwich while playing cards with Ichigo, who was drinking orange juice. They were playing a relaxing game of Old Maid. Ichigo was winning much to Naori's chagrin.

Ichigo laid down his last pair. "I win. Again."

"Damn joker." Naori threw down the last card in disgust.

Ichigo scowled, "Watch your language. We're with a baby."

"Masaki-chan?" Naori chuckled at his concern for the young girl. "Don't worry. She can't even understand a word I'm saying. Let's play again."

Rukia stopped feeding Masaki and turned towards Naori. "So Naori-chan, how is taking care of our baby going?"

"Fine." The young girl responded. She was a bit busy with the game.

"Oh that's good. I was just worried that you and Captain Hitsugaya had a falling out. That usually happens to young couples." Rukia sheepishly smiled at Ichigo, who only frowned at the mention.

"Oh…" Naori blushed. "That…the exact opposite happened actually…" She silently whispered to herself.

"What was that?" Ichigo and Rukia glanced at her.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!"

"So…Naori?" Rukia suddenly asked, prompting her attention. "While we are on the subject of you and Captain Hitsugaya, Ichigo and I were thinking of something…involving Masaki in the future…"

"And what would that be?" Naori flicked at two of Ichigo's cards, her mind being more preoccupied on Old Maid.

"We were wondering if you and Toushirou would like to be Masaki's godparents." Ichigo finished for his wife.

"Godparents? Me? Captain Hitsugaya? Parents?" Naori almost dropped her hand on that one. She felt that her mind was being blown to pieces by that one statement. Them? Parents? That was simply impossible. Just by looking at the way they have been taking care of Masaki, it was quite a far-fetched idea.

"Well, technically, you don't have to be married to be godparents." Rukia quickly replied, easing the young girl's nervous behavior. "We figured since you two were doing such a great job taking care of her, you wouldn't mind caring for her in the long run."

"Oh Rukia-san…" Naori suddenly scowled. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! First of all, how can you be sure Masaki-chan is going to get through this unscathed? Second, have you seen the fiasco Captain Hitsugaya and I go through taking care of her? Third, we're kids! I'm a kid. He's a kid with stunted height growth. We're not really at proper parental age here."

Rukia chuckled at the young girl's flustered reaction, "Nonsense! You and Captain Hitsugaya don't look like kids anymore. In fact, you look more like a sophomore in high school. And I'm sure Captain Hitsugaya is going to catch up sooner or later. You'll be at marital age real soon."

Naori found her face turning red even more. The young shinigami quickly coughed and turned away from Rukia, refusing to look at her in the face. Her hands dropped all her cards, the game of Old Maid already forgotten. She only quietly stared at her golden eyes reflecting of a glass of lemonade. Her eyes were full of worry and doubt.

Ichigo smirked at Naori's reaction to everything. He could tell exactly what kind of person she was, especially when considering relationships. She was a doubter, a very cynical and stubborn doubter at that too. She would never believe anything unless if it was shoved at her multiple times. Karin used to be like that. "You know, Naori, you're going to turn old eventually although, very slowly. The one thing you should never doubt is your age. And the other…" He smirked, "Is relationships."

"Ichigo! Stop teasing the poor girl!" Rukia slapped her husband's arm.

"Hey! Hey! Just trying to solve problems!" He chuckled, but he lowered his gaze back at Naori. "Seriously though, if one of you is going to confess-and I'm guessing Toushirou because honestly, he's the more sensible one-then there are going to be broken hearts. And it's not going to be pretty. So I suggest you resolve your trust issues soon before that happens."

Naori wanted to argue back…but she couldn't. Her usual sparks of electric outbursts were gone at this moment. Right now, she felt like a child getting a lecture. Well…she was a child…teenager…

Rukia gently picked up Masaki and placed her on her husband's lap. She quietly watch Masaki's serene face turn into one of utter disgust. The young baby started wailing afterwards, much to Ichigo's surprise and dread. "Before Naori can resolve her personal issues, I think you need to concentrate on your relationship with our baby. She still cries looking at you!"

Ichigo blushed and stuttered back in embarrassment, "R-R-Rukia! It's just a color! I can't help it. I was born this way."

Rukia smiled, "Don't worry Ichigo. I think you and Masaki will have a great father-daughter relationship. She's only slightly scared of you. But look at Naori, she's been doing fine lately."

A small smile crept to Naori's pink lips and she relaxed her once tense body. She happily watched the young, blossoming family in front of her. From rumors and personal experience, she expected Ichigo and Rukia to be fighting all the time. This…was the exact opposite. Everyone, Ichigo, Rukia, and Masaki, they came together like any other loving family. It seemed like one of those moments where the husband and wife would know what really tied the knot. Something she could not understand.

But at that moment…everything changed.

Naori suddenly felt a chill run down her spine and her sensors were spiking high. Her golden eyes grew wide and she quickly looked around, trying to find whomever that spiritual pressure was. That same feeling hit Ichigo and Rukia seconds later and they started freaking out as well. Only Masaki looked like she was unaware of everything. Alarmed, Naori quickly stood up and ran away from the young couple. Her hands flew out for her zanpakuto, her eyes growing wider each second, her short, dark-blue hair flying everywhere. Unfortunately, she couldn't make it. Armed forces appeared before she could advance any further. She almost bumped into one! The young shinigami girl fell back from the sudden force with her hands dropping from the handle of her zanpakuto.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute shinigami of Karakura Town. Rukia Kurosaki, unseated officer of the Thirteenth Division. You are hereby arrested for breaking Soul Society laws. A child must not be conceived between a human and a shinigami. Doing so is treason. Your child shall be confiscated from your possession."

Naori's eyes darted for the speaker. It was hard to tell. Everywhere in her vision, she was only seeing ninja-esque officers popping around. Masks covered their faces and they were all dressed in black. One of them stood out because he was huge and he wore a standard uniform with some gaudy purple thing. Naori felt her breath quicken and her lungs tighten. She knew this division! The captain turned towards little Naori and narrowed her eyes at the young officer.

"Captain Soifon! Lieutenant Omaeda!" She gasped.

"Naori Hibana, Fifth Seat officer of the Tenth Division. You are hereby arrested as an accomplice." Soifon declared. "Arrest them all!"

"Yes sir!" The soldiers of Onmitsukido troop chanted as they flash-stepped everywhere to get to their opponent.

"Run Rukia!" Ichigo placed Masaki back into her arms and frantically shoved her far away. He took out his badge and slammed it against his chest, ejecting his shinigami self out of his body. His hand flew for Zangetsu, drawing the zanpakuto out to inflict as much damage as possible, just enough for his wife and daughter to escape.

Omaeda quickly appeared in front of Rukia, slightly frightening her. "Sorry…I can't let you pass." He said, drawing out his sword.

Rukia glared and covered her Masaki's head. "Don't you dare hurt my daughter!"

"That can't be avoided…" Omaeda raised his zanpakuto, ready to attack.

A flash of electricity crossed his eyes and everything turned black for a second. A flash of gold appeared on his mind before his world turned into nothing. The large man stood there, dazed, unable to figure out what the hell was happening to him. That same reaction was the same for every officer standing around in the same vicinity, looking very dazed for a few seconds.

"I bought you some time! Run for it!" Naori shouted, appearing before Rukia with her shikai activated.

"Naori…"

Soifon and Ichigo clashed blade against blade, shikai against bankai, and gold against black. Soifon's cold face remained straight as she flicked some dust off of her activated zanpakuto. Ichigo remained his sturdy stance with his black sword drawn out, ready to attack and defend.

Soifon sighed at this ridiculous nonsense, "You are going to get caught either way. There's no point fighting."

"I know…" He clashed blades with her once again, pushing the captain farther back. "I want to buy enough time for them to escape. I don't care what happens to me."

"You don't care? Your efforts are futile. The Onmitsukido is going to have your wife and daughter captured soon." Soifon declared. Yet, out of the corner of her eye, a flash of electricity appeared.

"That does not seem possible…" A little, blue-haired, golden-eyed shinigami walked out from behind Ichigo. Her hand grabbed onto Ichigo's sleeve as she stepped onto the rock platform. "Ichigo defeated most of your officers. There's only you and Lieutenant Omaeda left to fight us. Rukia already got away with Masaki."

Soifon took a moment to glare down at her dimwitted lieutenant. Soifon sighed in disgust, "It doesn't matter if you got away from my division. Everybody in Soul Society is mobilized to take you down. Including the Tenth Division. They will be coming here any second."

Ichigo smirked, "You know, Urahara's going to kill me if I start a war in his basement. How about we move everything to Soul Society?"

"Ichigo! You can't be serious!" Naori stared up at him, flabbergasted.

"Let's go!" Ichigo grabbed her tiny wrists and pulled the young girl away into the Senkaimon. Flying up above Soifon and right past Omaeda, they managed to break through the portal of the Senkaimon and appear in the Precipice World. Quickly, the two sprinted right through the narrow corridors. Naori occasionally questioned what his next plan would be, only to be dissatisfied with his answer of a rampage till higher-ups thought of something.

Soifon didn't even bother to follow after them. What was the point? They were heading right into enemy territory to begin with. "Get up!" She harshly ordered, kicking her sappy lieutenant up. She should report back soon of the recent break-in and escapes.

_OoOoO_

Hitsugaya stood before his lined up soldier who were more than ready to receive instructions. "Because Fifth Seat, Naori Hibana, is a member of our division, we are specially assigned her arrest. I want her quarters to be secured so she can't hide in there. Search her out! Arrest her on sight!"

"Yes sir!" They all shouted and scattered.

Matsumoto looked down at her captain in concern. "Captain Hitsugaya. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

He sighed. "There's no other choice. I have to capture her or I'm disobeying orders."

"But captain! Even you have moral standards! How did you think Naori-chan got herself into this mess in the first place?"

"I know!" He groaned, raking his hand through his snowy white hair. This was going to be very difficult…

_OoOoO_

"Really Ichigo! Is that the best you can think of?" Naori exclaimed, kneeing him in the stomach once they landed onto the grounds of Soul Society.

Ichigo rubbed his stomach to get rid of the numbing sensation. "It worked the first time when I saved Rukia from her execution."

"It was an execution! You had a goal and it was Rukia! This is different! Just who do you think you can complain to about this situation?"

"That would be Central 46. They are the ones behind everything that runs in Soul Society." Ichigo pointed out. "If we can state our case to them, then they might just issue a really large punishment for our actions. We never did anything really wrong. Besides breaking a little law. Technically, I'm not fully human to begin with."

"Central 46? Are you mad?" Naori ranted, obviously thinking he was going nuts. "That is the most secured place in all of Soul Society. You'll have to go through all the divisions to get there. And there's little point contacting them. Even you know how much of a jerk those people are!"

"It's our only option. I've fought through all divisions before, I can do it again." Ichigo quickly ran off, leaving Naori behind.

"Ichigo!" Naori flash-stepped along with him.

Huts and wooden houses flew past both of them. Weary and confused villagers were alarmed of the sudden gust of wind being produced. Off in the distance, there were a large number of guards lined up one after another, waiting for the targets to come out. Unfortunately, they couldn't even get to the gate since their first opponents had been waiting a mile early. Two men patiently waited for the two visitors.

Ichigo skidded to a stop, letting Naori crash into him. "Byakuya! Renji!" He exclaimed.

Right at that moment, Renji disappeared from Byakuya's side and quickly appeared right behind Ichigo. He grabbed hold of Naori and vanished away, taking the young girl with him.

"Renji? Why?" Naori asked from the tree they were watching the scenario from.

Renji answered, "This is only between them…" He then took one quick glance at Naori, or supposed Naori. "Captain Hitsugaya's Fifth Seat was specially trained to treat higher-ups with the most utmost respect. She would call everyone by his or her titles. Don't you know that?"

Back on the ground below them, Ichigo and Byakuya had already drawn out their zanpakuto. Byakuya looked unnerved, calm, and composed while Ichigo looked like he was ready to kick the shit out of somebody.

"Byakuya…why? I thought you cared about Rukia." Ichigo growled.

Byakuya calmly responded with no animosity, "I can't let you pass. You let her and her daughter get hurt. If you can't protect them, I will protect my pride."

"Oh…so that's what this is all about…" Ichigo finally raised his head. "Don't worry Byakuya. I will protect them! I'll bet on my life! Bankai!" A large surge of red and black aura engulfed his body, wrapping him everywhere. All of this was being directed right at his brother-in-law.

"Scatter Senbonzakura." His zanpakuto dissolved into a mass of pink petals floating around. Each petal flew into a large circle, framing the captain's body. He firmly held up the hilt, directing the petals to attack him.

A clash of pink and black flew back and forth. Each of his petals was reflected back with Ichigo's energy of black and red and vice versa. The tiny fragments surrounded Ichigo, only for him to deflect each with amazing speed. Byakuya's petals did the exact same thing, deflecting most of Ichigo's spiritual pressure aimed at him into entirely different areas. It was the battle to see who could hold out the longest.

The onlooker gritted her teeth in frustration and she quickly jumped off the tree branch.

"Wait!" Renji jumped off after her.

The young shinigami quickly flash stepped right into the middle of the entire fight just as Ichigo and Byakuya were going to clash again. She drew out her zanpakuto as well. "Dance Sode no Shirayuki!" She shouted, as the white ribbon formed at the hilt. "Some no Mai, Tsukishiro!" A pillar of white ice flew up at the sky just as the two forces were about to hit each other. Each hit the ice pillar, shattering the structure and leaving a dust of ice to settle afterwards.

"Rukia…" Ichigo stared, utterly flabbergasted and confused from his wife's sudden entrance. "When did you and Naori switch places?"

"From the very beginning…when we were found out by Captain Soifon." The raven-haired shinigami slowly stood up from the gathered dust. "She had already cleared a way for me to leave. Instead, I gave her the baby, told her to run and hide, and I disguised myself as her using Kido. Soul Society still thinks that it's only me who has the baby. It should buy enough time for her to get away. It is Masaki they want…"

Noticing her distress, Byakuya quietly sheathed his zanpakuto. All of the petals were called back and they reformed into his blade once more.

Renji quickly appeared beside Ichigo and lowered his blade. "Stand down Ichigo." He warned.

"Nii-sama. Ichigo. Don't do this reckless fighting anymore." Rukia quietly requested. Her eyes were dropping into a droopy stare and small droplets of tears fell to the ground. "If you keep fighting, then sooner or later, my daughter is going to be killed. We're trying to do everything we can to stop that but we can't get sidetracked like this. So please…just stop and let us be."

"Rukia…" Ichigo softly replied. After a brief moment of silence, he sheathed his zanpakuto as well. "Okay, I'm not going to fight him."

With a sweep of his scarf and haori, he gracefully turned around to make his leave. "Lieutenant Abarai! Let's go. We're leaving."

"Byakuya? Just like that, you're going to leave?" Ichigo suspiciously questioned.

"My only intentions of confronting you were to evaluate you. Seeing how you interacted with Rukia settles it. I have no further reason to be here. Sixth Division commands were only to enforce security in Seireitei." Byakuya said with all noble dignity even though he held a straight death stare at a certain brother-in-law. "But Ichigo Kurosaki…if you ever make my sister shed tears like that again, I will _personally_ mince you into dog's dinner…with bankai…slowly… I will completely erase memories, pictures, spiritual pressure, and any other form of existence of Ichigo Kurosaki off this planet. Do you understand that?"

"In other words, make Rukia cry and you're beyond screwed." Renji happily translated.

"Yeah Byakuya," he smirked, "I'm prepared."

Byakuya nodded and turned around one more. "Let's go." He said and just like that, he vanished. The red-haired lieutenant flash-stepped along with him just as quick.

"Ichigo! Did Nii-sama injure you?" Rukia quickly asked, alarmed.

"No." Ichigo dismissed his being just as quick. "But where is Masaki? Where did Naori take her?"

Rukia replied, "I don't know…but I know that she has the best chance at hiding our baby. She hid her for seven months."

"Okay." Ichigo quickly stood up. "Contact Urahara quickly! It looks like our plans are going to start early!"

* * *

><p><em>This is officially the penultimate chapter. The next chapter is going to end this story and potentially, start another. Does Masaki live? Are Ichigo and Rukia still utterly screwed? What is Hitsugaya going to do? Stay loyal or help Naori? How are they going to get through the entire Gotei 13?<em>

_Review to find out!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**_  
><em>

_A young woman sat on a lone roof of some random building. If she was on duty then she would be on night patrol, but tonight, that was not the case. She did not wear her uniform. She had foregone the black kimono and white obi. Instead, she wore a brown kimono top with billowing maroon hakama, the same outfit she bought around thirty years ago. Her dark-blue hair still looked the same though. She silently watched night guards walk around and occasionally gazed up to look at the stars. At times, her sight was clogged up by the white clouds she breathed out of her mouth. Tonight was really cold._

"_Naori Hibana!"_

_Hearing someone call her name, she turned around. Instantly, she recognized the white hair and teal eyes from far away. "Captain Hitsugaya," she politely responded._

_He smiled and walked towards her. "I see you could make it."_

"_Why wouldn't I? You asked me to come up here."_

_He glanced at her new wardrobe. "You look nice."_

"_Of course you would think that. You picked it." Naori mumbled under her breath and faced her captain immediately afterwards. "I found it buried in my closet when I was packing up. It sure brings back old memories."_

"_Those days…we were pretty crazy." He remarked._

"_It was your idea-"_

"_But you enforced it." He quickly cut in, noticing how fast she could quiet down._

"_Maybe I did…" At that moment, she decided to avoid any further embarrassing statements. "So Captain Hitsugaya why did you call me up here?"_

_His playful smile turned back into his usual apathetic expression. He avoided her eye contact and reached into his sleeve, pulling out a small velvet box. With one swift hand motion, he tossed it right at her and she caught it. "Open it." Hitsugaya said._

_Confused, Naori opened the box. At that moment, she only stared at the content. Her eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped open, making her hand instinctively reach up to cover it. Behind her, fireworks were going off one after another, leaving huge, colorful flashes of light in the sky. It illuminated him and her and left two long shadows along the roof._

_Slowly, he took one deep breath, "Will you…"_

_OoOoO_

The young shinigami held the orange-haired baby close to her body with shaking hands. Naori's golden eyes crept above a lush green hedge to survey all of her surroundings. When any of her fellow officers passed by, she quickly ducked back into hiding and silenced Masaki from any noise.

"Damn…it's completely surrounded. That's what I'd expect from Captain Hitsugaya." She mumbled to herself as she took another peek.

The entire division area was completely occupied by ready-to-attack officers. Each door and window, all the roofs, and inside all rooms, were covered. She could probably guess that the only room not occupied was her captain's barracks. That was her goal from the very beginning.

Quietly, the girl leapt out from her hiding spot and flash stepped as far as she possibly could. But a large horde of officers got in the way of her path. She dove like lightning behind a pile of garbage. But they didn't seem to notice any disturbance and kept on moving along…except for one.

"Hey. Did you guys hear that?" One officer asked. He glanced around in the general direction of Naori, making the poor girl sweat.

"No. I didn't hear anything. Did you?" Some other officer responded.

"No. No. No." A crowd replied.

"It must have been a mouse or something." The officer quipped and playfully slapped away the worries of the suspicious officer. "Okay guys! Keep searching for her! And remember! Alive! Not dead. Alive! Slightly beat up? Yes…if you want to face the wrath of our captain."

"I doubt we can even put a scratch on her."

"Even if we did, she'd kill us first before Captain Hitsugaya can touch us."

"It's Naori people. She's not going to go that far…"

"She _is_ our Fifth Seat and squadron leader." A particularly meek officer remarked. "And even you know how mad she can get when higher-ups are disrespected. Even if it's not her or Captain Hitsugaya or Lieutenant Matsumoto."

"Yeah! I've seen how she fights with hollows. Girl gets vicious!"

"Enough!" That officer seemed to be the leader in her place. "We need to stay on task. Captain Hitsugaya specifically tasked us as the leading squadron because Naori-san is our squadron leader and we all know her tactics, strengths, and weaknesses. Plus, out of all of the higher-up officers, she is consideredthe _weakest_. That means we should have a chance taking her down together! Let's move!"

"Yeah!" The whole crowd chorused altogether. Like a single cell, they all vanished far away from Naori.

The young girl could only stare at the dust left by her squadron members. First, the thought of them noticing something suspicious and not investigating already ticked her off. Seriously, they must be getting really lazy. Second, they talk about her temper, which she personally thought was very mild. Third, they addressed those ridiculous rumors of her and Hitsugaya. And finally, the one she hated the most, they called her weak. Weak. Weak!

"Damn that Yoshida!" She growled and smashed her fist into the dirt. "I'm going to electrocute you. Heal you. Fry you. Heal you again. Then, I will make you and the entire squadron clean bathrooms for a week. Then, I will put all of you through training from hell. Again. If any of you dare make this mistake again, I will…"

Masaki let the angered girl rant and in the time being, she gazed out into the open and pointed at something.

"What is it Masaki?" Naori peeped out from the garbage. Three people were running at her and she noticed those bouncing boobs from anywhere. Quickly, she ducked as they were passing and stopped.

Matsumoto ran her delicate hands through her long hair. "Any sightings of her?"

"No Lieutenant Matsumoto. No reported sightings."

"Any spiritual pressure readings?"

"No."

"She hid her spiritual pressure till it can't be sensed anymore. I trained her well." Matsumoto remarked. "Are all troops mobilized and on full duty? Are they ready to take her down at any notice?"

"Yes sir!"

"Okay! Keep moving!" She ordered.

The group of three continued to move on, leaving their intended target sitting there in a heap. If Naori could guess of how big of a puddle she sweated out, she created a lake. Deep breaths came out of the girl's mouth and her sweaty hands struggled to find a grip on Masaki. One last scan around the area, she crept out of her hiding place and continued on with her journey. She traveled mostly on flash steps and she sometimes ran if the gusts of wind became too obvious. If any officer were passing by, she would hide behind everything. A tree, bush, roof, wall, etc, she would take cover and wait for the threat to pass.

But at one of those moments, her sweaty hands suddenly gave way and Masaki fell. Luckily, Naori made a quick grab and caught the baby after falling a foot. But that momentum was enough to make the baby awaken and cry in fear.

"Shh!" Naoi said in her panic, muffling the crying noises.

"Target sighted!"

Naori glanced up and she could tell that one of the rooftop officers spotted her!

"Target located! Repeat! Target located in far east division area!"

Bells and gongs rang throughout the division. The spiritual pressure was rising up as the entire division came together to capture her. She could see black uniformed officers popping up everywhere on the rooftops, filling up her range of sight and escape. Looking around, all of the troops were there including her own squadron, who was leading the rest.

"Bakudo-"

"Strike Denbaku-to!" Naori drew out her zanpakuto and watched her blade transform in a Chinese jian and in effect, making a huge explosion to accompany the transformation. It created a nice cloud of brown dust and dirt. It was just enough to cause a distraction, blind them, and for her to get away.

From far away, Hitsugaya noticed a cloud of dust rising from the far east. That was the cue he needed.

Naori sped out of the cloud and far away from the area. Now that everyone congregated in that one area, there were probably few officers guarding the rest of the division. Besides, she was already discovered so it wouldn't make much of a difference to sneak around. She flash stepped to the barracks area, but a small group of officers made her suddenly stop and hide behind a bush.

"Hey! I think I saw something from over there."

They began to walk towards her. Naori felt her heart quicken and she held Masaki even closer. She tucked herself up into a tight ball. She closed her eyes and held her breath, praying that they won't find her. Praying that they would only walk by, not noticing her at all. But suddenly, as if out of nowhere, somebody was walking from the other direction! Crap! She was trapped!

"What are you doing?"

That voice!

"Captain Hitsugaya! Sir! We noticed something moving there and we were going to investigate."

Hitsugaya peered at the bush. "I see nothing", he declared. "Search around the eastern area. She was last spotted there."

"Yes sir!" And like a flock of birds, they all flew off in that direction.

Hitsugaya sighed and stretched is shoulders as if all this yelling was becoming a pain for him. He then looked back at the bush and parted the leaves and branches, leaving the terrified girl in sight. "This was why I didn't want to risk it." He heard a slight sniffle from his subordinate. He gave her his hand. "Come on. I'll sneak you into my barracks. You'll be safe there."

"Thank you…but…" She pushed his hand away. "Don't help me. You'll get in trouble. If you're caught helping me, then you'll be in the same position as me."

"I think I'll take that chance." He roughly grabbed onto her wrist.

"No!" Naori slapped his hand away again. "It's because of me, this whole thing started. I'll feel bad if you lose your captain position because of me. So please! Go back to doing your job and keep trying to arrest me."

With one swift motion, he had her pinned against the wall where she couldn't even move if she tried. "Idiot." The captain sighed. "Remember how you got stuck with the baby in the first place? I took Masaki Kurosaki in and I dragged you along with me. It's our fault this started. Not only you. Not only me."

When he said those words, Naori felt her eyes beginning to well up. A sniffled came out of her nose and crystal tears fell from her golden orbs. She felt a cold sensation as the breeze hit her wet cheeks.

He continued on, "I'm not going to leave you alone again. I promised that I would protect you if you were in danger. And I intend to keep it. I will never forgive myself if you get executed."

At that moment, a surge of new tears formed at her eyes and another whimper escaped from her lips. "Moron…" She cried into his shoulder as she moved closer to him.

Hitsugaya slowly reached out and hugged the shivering girl. He waited for her to at least calm down before flash stepping away to safety. His barracks. It was their haven all this time. It was the only possible safety zone where nobody would even think of looking. Would it remain that way still?

_OoOoO_

A young man with bright orange hair and his petite companion raced through narrow corridors and long passages. Seireitei was quite a maze, but they couldn't flash step unless they wanted to get caught. They could only run. But luckily, they were not far from their destination.

"Rukia! How much further?" Ichigo asked as they kept running.

"Just past the First Division!" Rukia answered, but suddenly, she skidded to a stop.

"Rukia! What's wrong?" Ichigo quickly stopped as well. Yet, looking at her line of sight, he could clearly see why she stopped.

"Ichigo and Rukia Kurosaki! Stop what you are doing or we'll be forced to take you down." Yamamoto declared.

Most of the lieutenants and captains were lined up on a long balcony, ready to meet and attack them. Some looked worried and others looked like they didn't want to fight. Most were reluctant. Others didn't care because they were only following orders. One was very, very excited.

"I can't wait to fight you again!" Kenpachi said with a wicked smile. Yachiru sat right on his shoulder and she clapped in glee of her captain's happiness.

"How troublesome this is. Does that law even apply to this young couple? Ichigo could be considered a shinigami and not really a human." Kyoraku drawled. "What do you think? Captain Ukitake?"

"No comment." Ukitake looked away.

"An offspring between a human and a shinigami. How interesting! I can't wait to experiment on my specimen." Kurotsuchi gleefully said, which made Rukia grab her zanpakuto and glare that captain to death.

"The more you talk, the longer this is going to take." Soifon said, really annoyed that her fellow captains were playing that stalling game. "Omaeda! Get down there!"

"Isane." Unohana gave a look at her lieutenant.

"Got it!" Isane jumped down from the high balcony along with Omaeda.

Hisagi also joined the duo of lieutenants as they faced off against Ichigo and Rukia. They all had their zanpakutos drawn out and activated into shikai. Rukia also activated her shikai and left a long ribbon trail at her feet. She and Ichigo took stance as the three lieutenants charged. Isane went for the full frontal attack for Rukia. Hisagi and Omaeda threw their midrange weapons right at Ichigo, hoping to hit him down.

"Bankai!" Ichigo yelled. A large black aura repelled the weapons thrown at him and he emerged with tighter clothing and a long, thin blade.

In fact, the force was so huge that it threw even Hisagi and Omaeda back a couple hundred feet. As they hit the wall behind them, all the captains jumped down except for Unohana, Yamamoto, and Kurotsuchi. One by one, they each attacked Ichigo at separate points. One would be fighting him and the other would look for an opening and attack. But they would be quickly blocked. He first fought with Soifon and Komamura. Then, took a dual hit from Kyoraku and Ukitake. What really kept him fighting for a long time was…Kenpachi.

Kenpachi swung at him like a mad man. His free hand was flailing everywhere and the other swung his zanpakuto at rapid place. So much that Ichigo had a somewhat hard time keeping up. Damn! This guy was training or killing a lot these days! With every bock, Ichigo tried to get a cut on him but he was blocked again. Their swords clashed again and again with sparks flying out. Blood appeared on their foreheads and cuts became apparent on their arms and chest.

Meanwhile, Rukia held her own against Isane. She knew that she wouldn't be as much trouble as Ichigo but she still had to survive through this. She already did her first dance and Isane dodged it. She didn't want to do her second dance unless she wanted to interrupt and freeze Ichigo and Kenpachi's fight. They were now locked in a battle of kido. They yelled kido spells at each other and deflected each spell after another. Spells of orange, blue, red, and green were being thrown back and forth. Neither was going to stop.

"Enough." A voice called. Some person appeared behind Ichigo, grabbed him, and disappeared before Kenpachi could land another hit.

"Hey! What is this?" A disgruntled Kenpachi growled, tossing his sword up onto his shoulder.

Ichigo stared momentarily at Kenpachi getting mad before looking behind him. He could notice those familiar straw bangs and that ridiculous scarf. He exclaimed, "Byakuya!"

"Nii-sama!"

Rukia also ceased her kido firing and so did Isane. They all turned towards Byakuya, wondering what the heck was going on? Exactly what was so important that he needed to stop the fight?

"Permission to speak, Captain Commander." Byakuya asked.

"Permission granted." Yamamoto said, but his eyes narrowed at the stoic captain. He better have a good reason for disobeying Central 46 orders.

"Byakuya! What's going on?" Ichigo asked.

"Shut your mouth, Ichigo Kurosaki." He replied, pissing the orange haired man off, but he ignored that. Instead, he turned towards the majority of captains and lieutenants. "I have spoken with Central 46 regarding the affairs of Ichigo Kurosaki and his wife Rukia Kurosaki. As Head of the Kuchiki noble family, I took the liberty of presenting and explaining this case thoroughly to them. I've also pointed out the fact that Ichigo was a key component of the capture and final defeat of Sosuke Aizen. Plus, I also stated that my sister, Rukia, was a figure of nobility. Considering these facts, the majority of Central 46 has decided that these two criminals are not going to be subjected to execution."

"Really! Nii-sama! Thank you!" Rukia cried. She ran up to Ichigo and tearfully hugged him. It was so wonderful! Masaki could live! Their family won't be killed! It was perfect.

"Ah, what a sweet ending," Kyoraku remarked as he lowered his weapons.

"That's good." Ukitake said as well.

All the captains agreed and they sheathed all their weapons. Lieutenants returned to their respective captain's sides. Renji was congratulating Rukia and giving painful pats for Ichigo's back. Everybody looked really relieved. Except for Byakuya, who held a stoic face and approached the couple. "Please bring out your baby, Masaki Kurosaki, along with Captain Hitsugaya's subordinate."

"Captain Kuchiki." Unohana said, grabbing his attention. "I have already sent a Hell Butterfly towards Captain Hitsugaya. He should answer by now."

His voice suddenly blared out of the black insect to everyone like a huge stereo. "Captain Unohana, what is the matter?"

"It seems the issue of Ichigo and Rukia Kurosaki has been resolved here. Did you succeed in capturing Naori Hibana?"

"Uh…well…"

"Captain Hitsugaya! I will never forgive you for this!" A light and airy voice yelled through the butterfly and practically killed everybody's ears. Unohana even stumbled back slightly from the sudden increase in volume.

She chuckled, "Well. It seems you did indeed capture her. Can you please bring her to the front of the First Division?"

"Will do." Hitsugaya let the butterfly fly away before facing his subordinate. "Naori Hibana. What was that all about?"

She smirked and picked up a sleeping Masaki. "I told you. I'm not going to let you lose your captain position like this."

"You are so stupid." He sighed and began to lead her out. "But if you're getting killed, I'm not going to hesitate to get you out."

Both of them quickly flash stepped off to the scene. When they arrived, both were surprised at the large number of captains and lieutenants and other high-ranking officers gathered at the area. Rukia's face simply lit up once she saw her young baby, safe and sound.

"Masaki!" She exclaimed, running for the baby.

Naori gently handed the young one over and let the mother and daughter reconcile. She stepped back when Ichigo came over to the family and she stepped back behind Captain Hitsugaya,

"I wanted to bring the four suspects together for this hearing." Byakuya suddenly said, getting all of their attention. "You may be exempt from execution by your contributions to Soul Society, but that does not mean you are going to be let off easily."

Ichigo narrowed her eyes and walked back out to face Byakuya. "What? What is this? I thought we were done with the punishment part."

Rukia placed a reassuring hand on his arm as a way of warning him to back off. "Stay quiet Ichigo. Listen to what he has to say."

Naori noticed the edge and tone of his voice. She could tell that this wasn't good. Slowly, she backed away from her captain and walked up towards the couple, ready to face their punishment together.

"Central 46 has ruled the banishment of Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kurosaki for breaking the laws of Soul Society. A child must not be conceived between a human and a shinigami. Doing so is treason. Their banishment shall last until their human daughter dies in the world of the living or until the human shinigami dies. When either dies, they are to immediately come back to Soul Society as a whole family to await further instructions. Ichigo and Rukia may not use their spiritual powers at all during the entirety of their exile. Their spiritual energy shall be restrained."

"That's a good thing. They were already living there in the first place." Kyoraku remarked.

But that was not all…

"Naori Hibana is also banished for acting as an accomplice in this ordeal. She shall remain in exile until the baby dies. She may return back to Soul Society when the baby dies. Naori Hibana may use her spiritual powers to ferry souls and cleanse hollows only if she is 200 kilometers away from the baby. But her spiritual powers shall be restrained as well. She will be placed under a limiter during the entirety of her exile." Byakuya finally finished. "Those are the final orders of Central 46."

"That's ridiculous! You can't-" Hitsugaya started, but he noticed the pained look on Naori's face.

"Naori-san…" Rukia asked in worry for the young girl next to her.

"Naori? Are you okay?" Ichigo exclaimed, glancing over at the shaken girl.

Naori didn't answer. She just dropped onto her knees on the ground.

She collapsed.

She didn't move.

_To be continued…_

**Fin**

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><p><em>And this is the end of that story. Plus I left you with another cliffhanger! Evil cackle ensues. <em>

_Okay, to clarify some things, the entire italicized part at the beginning is from the far, far, far, far, far (x30) future. It was just something to throw in there. Second, there is a cliffhanger, evil cackle, because I've made up my mind and I decided to write a sequel. I wanted to do it cause I really wanted to flesh out my Masaki Kurosaki character and I don't feel like doing a time jump. But I have to work out some parts of the plot to get this sequel done. Third, yes, I pulled a deus ex machina. Why? Because I'm the author and I felt like it._

_Review this final chapter! And tune in for the sequel, coming soon!_


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